New-York tribune., 1904-09-08

try to-day. He consented yesterday TO talk
about his recent work in substantially these
terms
There, can be little doubt about the conversion
Ia i tA1Gn LII INTO neul; IN ne INNS VIZ 49, e' q o9s S
was continuously emitted which was luminous; bat
exhibit the characteristic % lines Of heum when
amined with spectroscope Apparently Il was
for in time X practically disappeared Later. on
aed oSoG6S % fSa %o and Ra t@e the Space
Of the original euanation. This gave the spectrum
have m ERga3d eRgeS the ge g9gsF@ss @ po6uaT OF adfm I'M
terest. gave lecture on the subject III a ha
holding 300 people. The building was erowdeG:
Vet say what will come from these discoveries
When am asked Of what use they are / m allsWeiii
seer
OF the various theories advanced 10 account for
of radiation from radum and allied elements the
atoms in those Substances are dsintegritiny ana
in doing SO berate stored energy. A few physicists
fancy that the energy was first absorbed from some
n compared notes lately With Ierd Kelvin am
nor sure how far he has modified his views, Z
that any given mass of fl would completely de-
Of the three or four other radioactive metals Is
The theory that an atom :, made mp Of much
smaller particles, which are held together by cleo
trio attraction. and Is thc seat Of stored energy
Is OF philosophic Importance mainly " greatly
practical work OF the chemist The old formula
stu SUI sgISceap!e ~ UGl t la ~ Tforeseen
atom hoTekeT may e eSgsas in s seSrehes which
are not yet complete. but which encourage me 20
thing that the ''eecironic theory OF atoms mas
career Of practical usefulness before IT.
Professor Baskervtlle's beliet that he has found
has much to commend it There is independent
evidence OF the eomplexity OF therinHi Ia have
have a chance to talk further with your fellow
countryman however, ! ind It hard TO express an
As for the so-caIled y rays. which Blondlot OF
that thus far no one but Frenchmen have been
able to detect them!
Sir William Ramsay's title TO the profound ad-
miration of scientific men does not rest alone on
his unique demonstration Of the possibility OF
transmutation. He has long been known for
other important work. He has filled the chair
of chemistry in University College. London, for
seventeen years. He shared with Lord Ray
leigh the distinction of discovering previously
unknown constituent OF the air-argon-and
subsequently took the leading part in the de-
lection of several others. The existence OF one
Of these he was bold enough to predict before 1t
was found. At the Toronto meeting OF the Brit
ish Association for the Advancement OF Science,
in 1897 he discussed the relationship between
argon and another element Of which he was the
dfscoverer helium, and declared that still a
third one, whose atomic weight and traits he de-
scribed must eventually be found. Then he
went 20 work TO find II, and succeeded Such Il
forecast had never before been verified. The
achievement bore testimony 10 the sagacity OF
Sir William, and may be said to have strength
ened confidence in the soundness of a law laid
down By the Russian chemist Mendelief This
related to the mathematical ratio between the
atomic weights of the members of certain groups
of elements Owing to their disnclination to
combine with other elements. no way has yet
been found to utilize (the missing link,
krypton, xenon argon netiun. but ii is doubt
full II any man ever identified so great a
number Of new elements,
Sir Williams address to-day viii be delivered
at the gymnasium OF the Columbia University
at 1890 q. m His topic Is educational one.
Admission can be obtained only by ticket
Later IN the day the foreign members will be
entertained by the New-York section in a va
riety of ways. The programme includes lunch
con at Claremont Riverside Park. ride In au-
tomobiIes uptown and dinner at the Waldorf
Astoria