The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-11-10

all this has been done without sun. cleo
 tricity, or ray. t. What kind of a miracle is this?
 It is simple. The photographer has left in the proximity of the plate a tube con-
 taining d few centigrams of chloride of
 barium. This story reads like fairy tale,
 yet 1t is onl yone chapter of the history
 In 1896 M. Henri Becquerel made the discovery that the compounds of me4al called uranium emitted peculiar rays, and that the emission was spontaneous and
 constant. That is. he discovered that this matter has in itself its own light and
 that this light was eternal This fact re-
 versed all known principles of chemistry. These rays were given the name of Bec- querel rays. and the substances emitting them were called radioactive. It was in studying the properties of the
 radioactive rays that the investigators ore of oxide of uranium, the existence of three substances These substances were ! polonium, which was found by M. and Mme Curie ;the radium. which was also discovered by them; and the actinium,
 which which was discovered by M De- bierne.
 These ores of uranium were secured at the state works at 1vochunstal in Bohe- l mia Several thousand Kilograms, besides | tedious expensive and hard labor, were required to obtain few deciErams of the | substances. which are nov astonishing the entire scientific. world They partake at the same time or the properties or the | catholic and %-raVs.
 These substances spontaneously gene--
 ate electricity. In laboratory of physics | they upset all the apparatus. il Ine op-
 orator is saturated with tneir mysterious | energies he cannot approach an electrical | appliance without upsettinR it. At dis | tanc they produce chemical reactlon | One of the most wonderful results in con- | nection with this Is photographs as men | toned above They are spontaneously lu- | minous without undergoing any trans | Formation to a perceptibe degree.
 The price of these substances. owing to | the difficulty of their production, prac- | ticaIly annihiates their industrial value. | Rut if Ia reasonable to suppose that later | on tbev will be produced as cheaply as aluminium formerly so expensive and ob- | tained so easily at small cost.
 We can already perceive the applica- | lions that will be made of these sub | stances. It will be possible to treat
 wounds by the radloactlVe actlon or ra, one dav to cure neuralgia through slow
 emission of eeItrlclty'
 Any one carrying in the pocket a few l grains of tn. substance would be able To | renroduce. and with what ease, all kinds | of rsdiographs. With sensitive plate he | would he at liberty to read through solid | bodiea as if has been demonstrated that inc rays can penetrate through several ITbn ro(et nracticll application. however,
 would be in regard to the Illumination of
 homes and cities The light which they
 emit emit is strong enough to enable one to | read at night Suppose that the halls of | tSa oGtiaS snd the internal walls of the | hn,,sos y,nre constructed with radioactive
 pnateriai ,eter What would be the result? Eter-
 li nal light produced without combustion
 sEWS; WbaTe ia the origin of these rays? Are
 tbsy h9n1 nrodSced v ed by the bodies themselves?
 they originate on the dSoS Sptsds Ss Sor4oTsS Tn tss Hl HIsh cSse' a ot ironmcnt under the guise of
 n.at t.o f,, hut this hypothesis contradicts the
 rrI nrinc,pIe ' of ,'' C.rnot In the second case.
 w we s'ie are face to 'ace with the b9listic hy-
 pothtsis of Sir Crook9s and J. ThomD-