New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-06-26
RECENT ATMOSPHERIC GASES.
PROFESSOR RAMSAYs LATEST DISCOVER
les. KRYPTON. NEON AND METARGON.
From No and

From The London Standard
Al the meeting Of the Royal Society week ago
Professor " Ramsay and Morris Travers described
thelr idrniincaton OF new constituent in at
tn same time they minated that quite recently,
during their Investigations they had found ndlca
Of being also a novelty They have now com
lleted preliminary eXamina dor OF this constiu-
ent. and yesterday afternoon outline OF its
nature and history at the meeting II the Royal So
oety The discovery has been made IN the course
OF series OF researches into the nature OF argon,
%high mas 9c2lIed mem i2r NAM months at the
the apparatus devised 10y Or. Hampson for quefy
ing air .u large Quantities
4 quantity Of argon was lquehed 1t formed a
coor,ss huid. but at the same time considerable
arni.. partially round the sides Of ihe tube and
PARTIAL, below the surface Of the liquid But this
more conspicuous material was not all A gas a so
Afrer ibat tbav tnrnpd tbei- attention
by processes which they described The light gas.
which Va n, immediate subject OF their invesS-
Characterized by a number Of bright red lines. one
bong p@rcuinr b ana io ye Low one OF
tense rs those in sodium. helium and krypton. but
T. Is not Identical with them
Next Effort was made 70 ascertain The density
OF the gas The results Of their experiment led
the investigators TO the conclusion that they had
not yet obtained 1t in perfectly pure condition
stv Of III: AT a later one however. it was reduced
10 10 But this IS sttl too nigh Il the new gas
sH H'oIi "i not It exceed H. 1t may however be
lowered los further publication. But these tests
obtained IN an absolutely pure condition. this gas
is a element for which. accordingly, tho name
They next turned their attention to the solid--the
material frozen out Of argon. Its spectrum proved
to be very complex. but totally different from that
OF argon and rs behavior al low temperatures was
naly lientcai II was proved 10 consist OF single
element This substance. accordingly. which
tinct eIementary BODY though IN some respects
I'm close relationship with It. they propose 10
In fact he tpvae iga
serve. Il occupies the same position In regard TO
argon tina, nickel does TO cobalt having the same
In this account no mention is made OF krypton.
Naturally. ii will be asked why the Investigators
did not again come across H. They attribute its
In order to prepare It they would have required
sample not less than sixty thousand times the vol
,,aned experments and besides this metarson is
a solid at the temperature Of boiling air, while
from which they originally obtained the latter gas
naa u" Snc.trosconoi" tnvestlgaton which has bes,
undertaken by Mr.. Baly. will have TO be carried
ruriaed samples, before these elements can Sc
completely known.
was lntimated in the course of the discussion for
certain Pecusrss in t2S r., speGtrgm OF arson
than one experienced investigator to doubt whether
BY a careful comparison Of the speetra of argon
the lines in the former. which had caused doubt.
disappear when q perfectly pure sample OF II Is
examined but found 10 occur In the spectrum
of metargon Nessrs. Ramsay and Travers ex-
pressed themselves fully sensible of the Importance
Of following up these hints. and stated that they
had prepared a quantity OF thoroughly pure argon
which they trusted would be before long subjected
krypton and neon would be watched at every stage
as they obtained and especially the latter In
a more and more pure condition. One OF the great
est difficulties in such Investigations is the chem-
cal inertness Of these gases Still, the re-
sources Of chemical ingenuity are exhausted.
The most Interesting point which. In the OF
neon awaits further examination. Is the determina-
ton of its density and atomic weight AS have
already said, a gas with density Of TO- any
rate more than II, should exist II the periodic
law OF Mendeleef holds good. in the interval be-
tween argon and helium. 1t this gas for which