Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-03-20
ABOUT ARGON,
The Newly Discovered Constituent of
the Atmosphere.

The Newly Discovered Constituent OF
the Atmosphere.
From the Academy.
January 81, 1895, will prove memorable
day in the annals of scientific progress.
The large theater Of London University
was filled with an expectant and distin-
guished audience when, at 4:3O. the his
toric mace Of the Royal Society was placed
on the table and the president and secre-
taries took their seats behind 1t. Three
papers on a single subject were to be read
referred had, indeed, been announced last
summer at the meeting Of the British As
ISOLATION, but further and more exact de-
tails were eagerly awaited. These were
now furnished in the paper by Lord Ray
leigh and Prof. Ramsay, which was sup
plemented by Mr.. w. Crooke's account of
the spectra of the new gas, and by the
story of its iquefaction and solidification
as told by Prof. Olszewsh Of Cracow.
1t was the occurrence of an apparently
Insignificant difference in density in nitro
gen from different sources which original
ed the discovery Of a new constituent in
the atmosphere. For Lord Rayleigh found
that nitrogen eliminated frem chemical
compounds was lighter than nitrogen pre-
pared from atmospheric air by the removal
of its other known compcnents. The diff
ference was slight, the weights of equal
volumes standing in the ratio 23O:231; but
there it was, and in many comparative ex-
periments 1t proved to be invariable. Sug-
gested explanations of this difference had
to be dismissed one after another, until it
became evident that the purest nitrogen
from atmospheric air was a mixture of
what may be called true nitrogen with an
other and heavier gas. This mixture was
then submitted to two distinct methods of
treatment. by each of which the true nj
trogen present was removed in the form of
compounds. Lord Rayleigh and Prof Ram
say found In this way that there remained
ty,off nnlxn -
heavier than true nitrogen in the ratio
1914. This inert gas had, 1t seems, been
obtained SO long ago as 1855 by Cavendish,
who was not dfsinclined to admit that a
''phlogistcated air" e. nitrogen of our at
mosphere might differ from the rest, and
could not be reduced to nitrous acid.
The nature OF this heavy gas had next to
be determined. From the methods by which
it had been isolated. it was evident that it
could not be, and could not contain. any
of the known elements. 1t might be new
element, or a mixture of new elements. or
possibly, but not probably, a compound of
two new elements. No argument can be
drawn from its chemical properties, for it
has none-none, at least. save inertness has
been as yet revealed. But the balance Of
evidence derived from its physical behavior
inclines in favor Of the theory that argon
is a simple elementary body. There is 4
definiteness, a consistency and a constancy
in its characters which seems to connote
an eleulenI-s1S tn6 term element is now
understood. 1t would be strange, indeed,
were argon to consist of two kinds of mat
ter, endowed with equal inertness, equal
solubility in water and equal resistance to
the heroic methods of publication adopted
in its isolation True, argon possesses two
spectra, conveniently named the red and
the blue" two bright-line spectra, obtain
able under different conditions of pressure
and electric current; but the same state
ment may be made with regard to other
gases, as to the elementary nature of which
no doubt has yet been raised Again, in ex-
periments OH the velocity of sound in ar
gon, 1t was found that 1t gave the ratio
of :63 between the specific heat at con-
slant pressure and the specific heat at con-
slant volume. This result tends to Indicate
monatomic gas. and is parallel to that
obtained with mercury vapor. 1t would be
unwise to lay too much stress upon the
oonstancy of the boiling and freezing points
of argon, determined by Prof. Olszewski,
a: Indicative of it's simple nature, but such
constancy is favorable to this view.
In the immense diagram (nearly forty
feet in lengthy Of the two spectra Of argon,
exhibited on January 81. no less than 1919
lines were laid down. OF these, 119 belong
ed to the blue" spectrum and 80 to the
red" There were 20 lines common to the
tive spectra, but these were probably due
Cookies assured the meeting that each line
was laid own with an accuracy in position
of one millimeter, and that there were no
lines common to the sharp-line spectrum Of
nitrogen and to the spectra of argon.
The data for the discussion Of the atomic
weight Of argon, assuming 1t to consist of
q single element, are extremely meager.