450 Lincoln—Electrical Conductivity . 
inadequate. As has been previously noticed, Nercst 1 calls at¬ 
tention to the fact that solvents which have a high specific in¬ 
ductive capacity yield solutions that conduct; and he argues 
that the greater the dielectric constant, the greater is its power 
of dissociation. It has been pointed out above that no propor¬ 
tionality exists between the values of the dielectric constants of 
solvents and the molecular conductivity of their solutions. 
Crompton calls attention to the connection between the specific 
inductive capacity and the degree of association of solvents. 
This parallelism has also been pointed out by Abegg 2 3 who fur¬ 
ther observes that nitrobenzene, ethyl nitrate, and benzonitrile 
all have high dielectric constants; yet their association factor is 
unity. This, he thinks, fulfills the primary conditions of a 
self-dissociating substance. Crompton further states: “It is 
almost impossible to doubt that association plays an ail-import¬ 
ant part in determining the value of the specific inductive ca¬ 
pacity of a liquid, and that if there is any connection between 
the specific inductive capacity and the power of forming elec¬ 
trolytes, it may be looked for rather in the fact that electrolytes 
are solutions of approximately monomolecular salts in an asso¬ 
ciated solvent, than in there being any peculiar ; dissociative 
power 5 attached to the solvent.” From the experimental re¬ 
sults given above it appears that it is a fact, that all solvents 
that yield solutions which conduct are not associated liquids. 
Crompton further aims to explain the conductivity of fused 
salts upon the dissociation of the associated molecules of the 
fused salt, wherein a small proportion of the salt is in the 
monomolecular condition. Abegg, however, shows that in many 
cases the melted salt has a higher dielectric constant than its 
“ice,”—for example water 78, ice 2.85; 3 and that in these fused 
salts the self-ionization or self-dissociation is very slight. He 
states that in about 100 liters of fused AgCl there is about one 
gram-molecule of AgCl completely aissqciated. Kohlrausch 4 has 
shown that in about eleven million liters of water there is one 
1 Loc. cit. 
2 Zeit. Electrochemie , 5, 48; 1899. 
3 Thwing. 
4 Wied. Ann., 53, 209; 1894. 
