New-York tribune., 1901-05-05
SMALLER THAN ATOMS.
NEW THEORIES CONCERNING NATTER
HINTS AFFORDED BY OLD AND INSIGNIFICANT
PHENOMENA.

From The London Daily News
At a recent meeting of the Chemical Society
| Lord Kelvin declared that chemistry was "the
science the first science and the last science OF
the nineteenth century" No doubt there is a
great deal of truth in that; indeed, for the lay
man to argue against Lord Kelvin would be as
rash as the Roman philosopher thought 1T TO
contend with the master OF thirty ieslons bue
| there are not a few indications that in the
! twentieth century, at least, chemlstry-i1 IKE
| Stevensons Shyster may "clothe our idea
in somewhat vulgar form"-will have to take
a back seat Its practical applications. such as
Professor Meldola indicated in his interesting
lecture the artificial manufacture of indigo
| more important. until reach that glorious
| time of which NJ Berthelot dreams in his wax
| ing hours. when it will only be the chemist
! in his laboratory who takes thought wherewIthal
| the world shall be fed and clothed
But in regard to the fundamental theories on
which chemistry has been based since it left
| the hands of the interesting. but exceedingly
empirical alchemists the future seems 10 be
| with the more purely physical branches of sci
ence. whose method is dependent upon the
| powerful weapon of mathematical analysis
The laboratory. with all it's reagents and its
BOTTLES, its balances and it's microscopes. is help
| less in the last resort when we come to discuss
| the constitution of matter and the nature OF
| the world stuff of which we and all our environ
ment are made Such a lecture as Professor
| j. ThOnSOnS discourse yesterday at the IsOyav
| Institution. The Existence of Bodies Smaller
| than Atoms is sign of the change 10 which
we allude.
| 1t is very difficult for most of US to realize
how question Of this kind can be raised at
| all Inc atoms or the chemist are COnfeSSel 10
| be. in the very nature of things. beyond the
ken of any method of practical examination that
We can devise now. or that, so far We can now
see. will ever be able to adapt his feeble
and i'll adjusted senses. We need never hope TO
| see atom. however greatly improve cur
microscopes All the advances that Jena
make in the manufacture of optical glass must
| be helpless here y limit to the power of the
| microscope is fixed in nature. as HelmhoItz
showed. by the length of the waves in the ether.
| which call light Now. do not quite know
what = the size of the atom. but We can-by
methods of analysis which do not depend on
actual measuring make a reasonably good
guess at it. As Lord Kelvin puts it. may
take il for granted that if drop of water could
/ be n.aSnihed up TO the size of the earth the
/ atoms which compose ii would then turn out 10
be larger than cricket balls. but smaller than
/ footballs. To bring these within the range OF
+ vision IS beyond the power of any Zeiss
Quekett.
There are, however other methods of inquiry
than those of the senses Unfortunately. they
/ are mostly OF such nature that it is hopeless
{ to try and explain them in popular language;
! the mathematical expressions OF which they
/ chitt\ CONSIST are quite untitled for publication
/ But ii may be said that the student of molec-
I uldr physics can feel the atom trembling in
/ the grip of his ANALYSIS with as much certainty
as A1amS and lie Nerrier felt the undiscovered
planet Neptune at the end of their exquisite cal
SuiatIons- such researches. of course. have TO
start from observations. and they generally find
their origin IN curious 0ut-of the-way facts that
do not seem 10 tit in with the ordinary theories
Neptune was discovered because Uranus refused
tG move exactly The Nautical Almanac said
that 1t ought 70 do. Lord RayIeiSh was led TO
ms brilliant discovery of argOn because the spe-
clf1c gravity of nitrogen did not come out quite
right in his long series of experiments upon it,
80 We may say that the curious theory which
Professor Thomson has put forward has its rise
in some odd and trifling observations which
were made. without leading TO anything a gen
| Grafton ago.
lt was noticed that if coin or a sheet of Drint
was shut up for a number of days at a short dis
tance from piece of white paper faint image
like a spirit photograph'-might be left on
| the paper No rational theory of this singular
phehOfnenOn-Or. at least. none that seemed "a
tlonal To the early NictOrians-was put forward
Ihe only one seriously offered was treated with
nearly as much deriSiOn would have been a
theOry or the so-called spirit photosraDhs
winch should attribute them To the actual nres
ehce or ghosts whom the camera alone e0uId
detect ThlS was Seguin's hypothesis tha. all
bodies We're constantly giving off infinitely small
particles which dashed in all directions and
hilSht, under suitable conditions leave such inn,
| ages as had been observed. Unfortunately S,
gum spoiled his case by extending his hypothesis
10 explain gravitation. which has hitherto been
| fatai To the reputation of all the philosopbers
who have had a try at it,
Lately. however. the ingenious and b.,,,.;s,,
| reSedtTheS Oh NJ Henri BeCquereI which We're
recently crowned by our own RovaI Soeiat,C
have shown that Seguin was very near tba tr,,tI
NJ Becquerel and his followers have shown tba,
many Observation-Disclosures ink is notabIa a,In v1,'
theru are constantly emitting rays which arc
capable of affecting Photographic films vvitbHu,
the heip of ordinary light The phospborasceu.
substances which familiar to ms in ,,11trt
boxes Tor use at night furnish extreme caSas -
Il H.