The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1895-05-03
IS ARG0N THE LINK I?
The New Gas System Seems to
Explain the Mysteries Of Science.
THE PRIMAL CAUSE OF LIFE
1t Causes the Wonderful "Aurora"
and Bears Curious Relation 10
Electricity. Heat and Light
Discussed. Something
About HYpnotism.

The aurora borealis has now been
explained rs tho work of argon, the
element in the atmosphere revealed to
/ the scientific world only few months
ago,sard savants arc asking in amaze
ment what further chemical discoveries
arc impending. Mysteries which for
ages have puzzled men of science may,
it is pointed ont, find their solution in
argon, basic clement hitherto unsus-
/ pected. which is destroying all the old
4 laws and setting up new ones.
i Who is to say where the frenzy Of ex-
pertinent which has now seized tho sci
entifc world cger this new substance
may not end?
q Whocan tell what revolutions arc i'm
pending nS the now gas is condensed
and tested and as one scientist after an
other contributes the results of his work
to tho general knowledge?
But o fow months 1870 and nrCon was
unknown, and now tho aurora. nature's
noblcst phenomenon and never ending
ipuzzle TO scientists, is explained by its
action. A few months or oven weeks
hence no ono can tell what other mys-
lteries may not also be solved, and from
day to day tho field is broadening in tho
pathway Of discovery along which the
Thoughts OF the scientific world arc now
directed. A gas present in stupenaous
quantity has been found which reveals
ftrango qualities and bears IL relation
chip to light and heat that is vet mys-
FERROUS Without it human life would
be impossible, and undor its influence
electricity is curiously affected
rested under tho spectroscopc, arSon
is found to have Light giving qualities.
IL is also mysteriously affected by heat
and cold. at these phenomena tho men
OF science are astounded. Here, it is ad-
united, may be . discovery greater than
that of electricity, more revolutionary
In its effects than that Of steam itself
The primal and hitherto undrealned
+ OF cause Of many Of tho forces of nature
may at last have been unearthed. There
! is hypnotism, for Instance, II strange,
/ mysterious force, we'll recognized, bat
unexplained by known laws. Argon, it
Is suggested, may lilo ut tho bottom Of
tins scientific mystery. BY breathing it
into the lungs i'll greater or less quanti-
ty the human system may become
+ charged with this now gas, which, hay
2ng neSmcric influence of its own, nav
AFFECT tho wills Of other individuals.
In medicine this new gas, which. con
densed looks like cheese. NAV plav n
NEST important part, yielding to tho
Physiclan drugs and finds Of the great
/ est potency. 1t may euro diseases, re-
Iresh exhausted natures and DO tho vori-
faole elixir Of life which shall Danish
death Affecting tho brain, it may ex
Gel opium or alcohol in exhilaration,
and emotions like foar or love may be
under its control In explosive force ar
gon may excel dynamite Bong lighter
man air, argon may lift balloons to IL
tn1table heights and cause men to fly.
line oause OF tho aurora, it may dispel
the night 1t mny DO tho essential prin-
elple OF electricity, tho potential force
OF energy or that missing link of Sol
ence, the primal cause Of life.
These are few Of the outcomes of mr.
gon which arc now visible to the scien-
Tho mind az results attainable in the
near future No one can tell what dis
coveriea are at hand while the news Of
argon's solution Of the aurora is still
fresh from the laboratory.
1t was tho eminent French scientist.
Professor Berthelot, who sought to as
certain whether argon might not OK.
I plain tho aurora and whose work has
DOW been crowned with victory. He
says:
during experiments in passing cleo
tho currents through argon mixed with
benzine obtained splendid displays of
colors similar in every respect to those
OF the aurora borealis. Testin,, these
with the spectroscope, the identification
aeemed fully confirmed It will be neces-
sary to investigate further with larger
quantities Of the new gas, but the re-
suits already obtained certainly suggest
That tho aurora borealis is caused by the
action of electric currents upon the ar
8on and other elements in the atnos-
phare- New York World.
Let 1t Pass.
Tha title 0p tho ,,o,.,1