The Washington herald., 1921-10-09
HERE SAY BUREAU OF STANDARDS OFFICIAL
Expect o Of Gold from Base Metals

-
whsn We ret tbsse s,sctrsns b soins thrvsss
this ess With the proper velocity. tsey nss
peneerste to the core Of each atom snt dis-
rupt the atoms Of which the sss 10 nads-
This has already been done under certain
sets Of conditions With nitrogen. Il Is doing
just this thing that Is today one Of ths most
novel undertskinss IN which scentists have
been ensssed and one which may at any
time set . result which win sstonish ths
world.
You may NOT realize Il. but you have
probably witnessed on a small scale one Of
these bombardmena Of the atoms Of one Of
the elements with these volleys Of eiectrons.
Whenever q photographer in his laboratory
turns on one Of his green tube lights, this
bombardment begins. As q matter Of fact.
the tubes that give forth his light are called
mercury arc tubes and are flied With the
gas or vapor Of mercury. A strong current
Of electricity is sent through that mercury
gas. Some Of the eleetrous In this current
strike some Of the electrons which are In
the mercury atom. Those electrons are
actually knocked out Of place They ars
not knocked sufficiently out Of place thss
they win not return. II in ss though q
Wild planet were hurting through spscs and
should strike the world such q blow N 10
knock II bit ont Of fits orbit. but not 20
far out that it could not return. II is this
disturbance Of the mercury atom and its
return which causes the mercury tube to
give Oh its peculiar greenish light This
phenomenon, 20 frequently witnessed, 10
actually a step toward the trsnsmutation Of
mercury into gold.
This trsnsmutstion is one Of the obvious
physical results which may be obtained By
bombsrding the atom. am quite convinced
that to break up an atom like that Of
mercury, there is but one thing necessary
which we do not now have and that thing
Is properly speeded up electric current
passing through the r,s. The appliances
which we now use make it possible for us
to send through the gas in one Of these tubes
electric currents which represent but 5O. 900
volts. When It is possible for Us to send
through that same tube electric currents
that represent q few million volts, / an
quite sure that we will be able to penetrate
to the very core Of the mercury atom and
s,break it down. When we can do this, We
scan change mercury into gold, or, bettes
siil, into platinum
"pEFoRE we have accomplished this
- ultimate end. an end which expect
to see accomplished in the near future. We
will. undoubtedly have made many revolu-
tionary discoveries. One of the earliest
Accomplishments would be that Of artihcially
produced radium rays in such a way that t
will become unnecessary that hospitals
should have tubes OF radium for the treat
unent of cancer Tubes like X-ray apparatus
will be provided through which the currents
Of electricity can be passed for the manu-
facture Of these radium rays.
"Another practical field in which results
are momentarily expected is that Of nlumi-
nation. The mercury arc lamp is an er-
ample Of what may happen when an electron
il knocked a bit out Of place and goes back.
This green light does not lend itself to gen
ersl use, but a similar result obtained viii
some other substance properly stimulated
might result in a light 50 brilliant and -
economical that il viii displsce any system
Of illumination Of which we nov know.
'Already there arr q number OF praerrcs
,nnli.nces which are based upon the reless
Of eIectrons from white-hot tungsten. Big
frequency power transmission tubes TO
wireless telesrsphy and telephony, rectiber
for charging automobile batteries from th
-. house lighting circuit, smplihers, and oths
devices, owe their existence to the presenc
Of a wire or flanent from which counties
,umber, Of these minute electrons are actin
.Ily driven By the heat. By means Of Il
,mpliter, q little bulb about the sine Of