New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-06-14
MYSTERIES OF HITTER
Theories as to Ultimate Particles
lStQbiIitH Questioned.

Two modern conceptions Of the constitution OF
matter which are just attracting notice were
derived from the Greeks One IS That the atom -
indvisbIe and the other that in spite OF their a-
parent differences, the eighty-0dd clements hith-
Identified have a real unity o substance rne
Greeks called this fundamen. al Substance pro
lyle
1t is interesting coincidence thai John Dalton.
an Englishmau, who was one OF the fouEde-s'ct tn
science OF chemistry. laid down the ro,dsr" d-0it.-
theory just one hundred years ago The eircu-.-
stance has led to various centenary eeiebrations Do
the last few weeks The doctrine that me aInti.
tas its name implies could not cur MO sElasrr
fragments has been % immense value ~ pTa-s. 70
and theoretical chemistry tor it gnderlay ,-r
whole system Of compromising To-day II is i'm
perilled b. Thomson's revelations. which Suggest
that still dninutive bodies called cor2usces
associated with the H. indeed. they 90 not
compose IL What is TO be the outcome OF tnIs
teaching and further researches concerning
the size. form and indvisbility OF the atom no one
can tell
The other Greek theory has temporarily come 70
the surface several times in the last century
Chemists and physicists bring Il Up every often
possible explanation OF mysterious phenomena
which they have observed. Sir William Crookes.
International congress OF chemists in Berlin
few days ago declared that recent discoveries
seemed 10 point fuldment Of a dream OF Davy
and Faradsy that greater simplicity in the COM
position of matter. II absolute unity would
eventually be found. Sir William himself IS tn
tn this belief. and Of conspicuous
living adherents of the idea.
One Of the most impressive indica tons Is OF a
purely mathematical character. and. Independently
Of its bearing the Of matter. Is singular
" beautiful fact MendeHef observed that il table
be made -up. showing the atomic weights OF all
known elements and those elements which had sim
liar properties grouped together. a marked
ratio would appear between the numbers repre-
ssntng the weights Iron. cobalt and nickel eonsti-
tuted one such group. platinum. iridium and os-
MUM another. and hydrogen. huorine. chlorine
broruns iodine third. 1t this periodic
law which inspired Professor William Ramsay To-!
make remarkable prediction IN 1897 The then re-
cent discoveries Of heum. whose atomic weight IS
On round numbers) 4. and Of argon. whose stonio
weight is 40 led him declare that later
a new element would found with atouios
weight of %. and exhibiting that marked ndiner-V
ence to combination with other elements which 10
characteristics of the other two Scarcely a years
later he found three more elements. which vers
separated from the atmosphere. belonged TO thsl
same group and conformed fairly well to Men,
deefs principle These elements and their weig hts
(as approximately determined we're neon. 20: EyD-
ton. So and zenon. 128 Such relationships strongly
suggest o some Ih oO sbsa 2Ge III
Less conclusive perhaps but not without signth-
canoe is the constant splitting Of what is SEEM
ingly cDe element into two or three This has been
earths formerly and now employed in making in
eandescent gas antes Mosa aa9o uqes i T1
ythriunn four years later since that time several
These are scandium. terbium. ytterbium, thuliunl.
hoImurn dysprosium and samarium To these are
related, by the way. gadOlnium and europlum. and
tpnare in the connection between these and rus
sum- which is said 10 have been isolated from
thorium, and '-caroIinium associated in the same
American mineral with several other rare eartns.
William CroOkeS observed IN loSS that yrtriQ1n
could apparently be divided into what he called
one-and that the product varied with the process
He spoke of the phenomenon as partial cieaN-
age" evidently being somewhat in doubt as 10 the
thoroughness Of the separation SUCH an unceT-
fair of
In his Berlin address the other day Sir William
clearly had in mind the remarkable propSTJeS OF
apparent excitations. seem TO throw on minute
particles corpusces, Just as oSher metals 90 n
a vacuum tube under the influence OF high tension
electrical currents. or as glass and silk do when
r,16bad roza+her These circumstances lead him
question the stability Of matter Everything seems
70 be breaking down suffering change He said:
boIJc Observation-Disclosures boIic' il may be
marked is a favorite term OF the Psychologists.
bodies. Catholicism is destructive change In the
composition of any tissue just as anabolism is A.
building up he did not venture TO guess now l9nS
come complete vet he deemed It conceivable tina .
sprotyle" or the "formIess mist of the nebuar'
hypothesis. may again prevail ana. as - 2gt -.
'the hour hand Of eternity Will have coz NED ono
stiII another phase Of the phenomenon adia-
ened obIiteratfon OF the distinction. perfectly
clear IN the teaching of physicists between natter
flight of corpusces go charges OF electricity lr
fact they be positive about the moron
OF the possible explanations Of their difficulty -
that really there is no difference at all NOT onlV
are the atoms apparently going 70 pieces but ac-
cording TO Sir William. "the masses OF molecules
probably dissolve themselves into the ether waves
Of the universe electrical energy Thus vs.
stand the border line where matter ana RorcS
fr-c n Ofn