Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-07-20
Written for The Evening Star.
ARGON AND HELIUM.

These New Elements Found In q
Meteorite From Augusta County, Va.
1t is an interesting fact that one scien-
tific discovery almost Invariably leads to
others. This Is we'll illustrated by the re-
cent discovery Of the new element argon
by Lord Raylelgh and Prof. Ramsey of
England, which may possibly inaugurate
a new and important era in the history of
chemistry.
Lord Rayleigh first stumbled across this
substance by observing that the nitrogen
obtained from the atmosphere is slightly
heavier than that obtained from COM
pounds by chemical means. Prof. Ram
sey, working in conjunction with him.
proved that atmospheric nitrogen, when
treated chemically, left a residue with
properties different from those of nitrogen.
Having thus proved that in all probability
an element had been lurking unknown in
the air that we breathe. in spite of the
close study which has long been devoted
to the constituents of the atmosphere,
Prof. Ramsey began to investigate more
closely the constitution Of various min
erals, with the expectation that the pres
ence of argon might have been confound-
ed with that of nitrogen, which 1t SO much
resembles in some respects.
He acknowledges his Indebtedness to the
United States geological survey for the first
clue which led to success. which he found
in a paper by W. F. Hiuebrand. publish
analysis of the mineral cleveite, showing
that 1t contained considerable quantity
of what seemed to be nitrogen. On exam
lining this mineral he found. to his great
delight not only argon, but helium, sub
stance heretofore known to exist only in
the sun. In the solar spectrum. among the
characteristic absorption lines which re-
veal to us the presence in the sun Of va
rious elements known to us on the earth.
Is a bright yellow line which had never
been found In the spectrum Of any known
element.
From its habitat the substance to which
this line Is due was called helium. On col
lecting a quantity of it Ramsey found
that it was very light gas, only four
times heavier than hydrogen, the lightest
of all known substances He then devoted
eral chemical analyses made Of these
bodies in the United States by Prof NAL
let Of the University of Virginia and Prof.
Wright of Yale showed the presence in
Helium fn a Meteorite.
His expectations were realized. He has
just announced that in a sample of me-
teorite purchased from Mr.. Gregory of
Augusta county, Virginia. he has found
both argon and elium. He has shown that
these substances are absorbed by red-hot
iron, and suggests that their presence in
the meteoric iron may be due to its being
elected from some stellar body through an
atmosphere cont lining argon and helium.
These discoveries have raised a great stir
in the scientific world. At first there was
a disposition to question the fact that ar
gon Is a new substance, many reasons be-
ing adduced for holding that 1t is merely
a modified form of nitrogen. Some weeks
ago the Chemical Society of Washington
devoted an evening to discussion of this
subject in which much was said on both
sides. This skepticism Is gradually disap-
to-, ,I~,v
sicists alike are not only busily studying
the properties of the new substances, but
re-examining familiar compounds, with the
hope of making further discoveries.
The Tramp of the Elements.
As socn as argon was discovered many
ina inative persons Immediately attribute
ed a number of hitherto unexplained phe-
nomena to its agency, in much the same
way that they make electricity and mag
netism responsible for many things. both
good and bad. of which they are innocent.
The new element seems, however, much
too lazy ard inert to take an active part in
any natural phenomena. 1t is the tramp of
the elements, and lives up to Its name.
which signifies mo work." 1t is barely
possible, however, as suggested by the
French chemist Berthelot, that the aurora
borealis may be due to the passage of cleo
trio discharges through the rarefied argon
Oh CQ9 upper dtHlOSpueTc, lOE lie udS
that he can produce exactly the same ap-
pearance by passing an electric current
through tube containing this substance.
Some fancifui writer's have attempted to
make Edgar Allen Poe play the role Of a
prophet by assuming that argon has the
same properties as a hypothetical gas OBJ
tanned from the atmosphere which he de-
scribes in one of his stories This gas was
lighter than hydrogen. and was used to
fill balloons of marvellous ascensional
powers; but, unfortunately, argon is TWEEN
ty times heavier than hydrogen. which cir
cumstance makes the coincidence less
striking. 1t Is remarkable fact, however,
that Henry Cavendish, an eccentric En-
glish chemist, separated argon from nitro
gen century ago, as plainly shown by his
published papers, but neither he nor any
one else realized what he had done.
Prof. Ramsey has also recently announc-
ed to the Royal Society some peculiar OBJ
servations made on oxygen. By passing an
electric spark through tube containing
this gas it was proved that its density at
one end Of the tube was slightly greater
than at the other, indicating the possibility
that oxygen Is a mixture Of two gases of
slightly different densities. This point has
not yet been thoroughly looked into.
Professional Enthusiasm.
From Harpers Bazaar.