The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-03-15

what They Are and How 10 Obtain
Them.

Them.
The newspapers and periodicals of the
civilized world are full TO overhowins
with the TX ray" To the majority of ex-
pcrimenters it is correctly named. and will
continue to be an unknown quantity for
all time TO some of them,
The name of TX ray" or cathode ray,
is very misleading when applied to atomic
vibration. What IS ray? A line of mo-
ticn; no more, no less. The TX ray" or
cathode ray, implies a single ray, ana
there are millions of rays of the same.
class all different in composition. BY
this, l mean that the number of Nilra-
tons per second are different. and ore
and all beyond the grasp of mans five
senses. After thei5number Of vihrat' ons
per second becomes greater than several
hundred. billions, sight fails, or the optic
nerve (the most sensitive nerve in the hIs-
man anatomy fails to vibrate in unison
with the state of matter ana the brain
receives no impression thereof
Some of the writer's and experimenters
claim that we do not know what these
rays are. We do know. They are atomic
motion. How are the rays produced? BY
setting in vibration a column of gas,
hydrogen generally. Is the motion atomic
or molecular? Atomic, surely: as the col
umn of gas used is highly rarihed ana
the law of gases, mo matter what the
amount of gas, it tends to I'LL all space
wherein ii is confined ConSeQuently the
vibration must be atomic.
Some writer I'm the Morning News Jan.
TO- 1895, says at the%elose of his article
'Of course, the all-important question Is
what are. the rays, and what are the
qualities?"
If l am correct. the first part of the all
important question is answered With
regard 10 what are their qualities?' il
would appear that a good many of the
qualities are known They are capable OF
penetrating any and all substances They
90 not penetrate, all substances equally
They are capable, however, of decom.
posting the nitrate of silver on a photo
graphic plate. Their qualities are as va.
ried as their number of vibrations per sec
We should, therefore, investigate the
method of handling these rays of atomic
motion and determine what number OF
vibrations 1t requires to pierce an outer
covering and photograph effectively the
object hidden from our sight
Can we increase or diminish the vibra.
does vibration depend? Upon lenSth and
tension. A piece of piano wire, Nor in.
stance, six inches long under a swain OF
100 pounds would have given number OF
increased the number of vibrations would
be increased; but they never could be in,
creased to that point that a wire fouI
inches long and of the same diameter could
be driven to.
The length of the Crooks tube is one i'm
portant item and the tension or rarifac.
ton of the gas is the other. BY adjust
ing the vibrations of the ray of atomic mo
ton any substance may be made trans
parent and a photograph can be taker
through it. To adjust the vibration is 4
simple matter. If we desire q erea fer
number of vibrations per second, shorter
the tube or rarity the gas within II VIZ
desire a lower vibration increase the
length of the tube or diminish the rari
faction of the gas.
AS all substances vary in their atomic
vibration, so will it require a different
number of vibrations to pierce them.
Nat H. Freeman,
BoWersville. Ga