Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-02-04
METALS CHANGED
IN EXPERIMENTS
Elements Actually Trans
muted by Dutch Scientists.
Supports Japanese.

LONDON, February 4.-Elements
can actually be transmitted and one
metal can be converted into another.
This seems to be demonstrated by ex-
periments reported to the British
scientific journal, Nature, by DIR. Ar
thur Smits and DR.. A. karssen Of the
University of Amsterdam. Base lead
has, under the influence of electric
current in a quartz lamp, been
changed into mercury and perhaps
into thallium, according TO the claims
of these two scientists.
The Dutch experiments tend 10 sup
port the claims of Prof A. Miethe of
the University Of Berlin and Prof.
Hantaro Nagaoka of the Toxic I'm
perial University that they have
changed lead into gold. When their
claims were first made many scien-
lists doubted that such a change could
he effected without the use OF vast
amounts Of energy, far more than
any of these modern alchemiSts have
used.
Traces of Gold Made.
one of the first to claim that he had
solved this ancient puzzle was Prof.
Miethe, who III 1924 announced the re-
suit of experiments with a mercury
Napor lamp, similar TO that giving the
violet light often used in Photographic
electric arc operates i'll a vapor of
mercury. He was assisted in this
work by DR.. II. Stammreich, and In
one series OF experiments the lamp
was operated for 1877 hours with an
electrical force of about 160 volts at
12.5 amperes, a current Of about the
same order as that used in lighting
our homes. Though the mercury was
shown free from gold at the begin
ming. slight traces Of yellow metal,
less than three ten-millionthS OF an
ounce, were found at the end. Minute
as such an amount is, delicate chemi-
cal tests can detect il, and the tests in
This case We're made by DR.. Fritz
Haber, considered one of the greatest
OF German chemists.
In later experiments DR.. Miethe
claimed that he had obtained the gold
IN much larger quantities. enough to
rest by the ordinary laboratory meth
DDS, but not enough to make the
method commercially practicable.
According to modern conceptions
the atoms of which all matter is made
consist of a nucleus made up of what
are called protonS, around which re-
volve a number of electrons, much as
the planets revolve around the sun.
The outer electrons, In fact. are re-
ferred to as planetary electrons."
The difference between elements, &C
Cording to this theory. is due only to
the electrical charge of the nucleus
and the number and arrangement of
the planets. In the case of elements
like radium, the atoms break apart
spontaneously with the liberation of
helium, whose atom is the simplest
known next to hydrogen.
Breaking Up Nucleus.
Theoretically, then, it seems easy
20 change the atoms by merely
shocking out some of the planets. but
his does not affect the nucleus. DR..
(. A. NIillikan of the California In
stitute of Technology has thus OBJ
tained what he calls stripped atoms
OF some elements, in which the outer
ring OF planets has been removed,
but this does not radically alter the
elements.
To break into the nucleus, the GEN.
trail sun" of the atomic solar system,
would require, in the opinion of many
scientists. vast amounts of energy.
since mercury Is next to gold in the
procession of the elements, the re
noval of a single charge, correspond
ing TO complete nucleus OF hydrogen,
which is the simplest of the elements,
would convert mercury 70 gold. But
the nuclei of other elements have
been bombarded with an energy cor
responding to five million volts, with
no sign OF disintergration.
Now 1t seems, however, that COM
paratively small amounts OF energy
are able 10 get in where larger
amounts have failed, and the work at
Amsterdam is taken as confirming the
atomic theories. The method of the
Dutch scientists. however, was slight
~ different from that used by Miethe
and Nagaoka. for instead Of mercury
hey used lead, its close relative. The
lead was melted and the tube filed
With it's yapor.
Spectrum Disappears.
Though the lead was free from mer-
curry, as demonstrated by the act that
spectral photographs OF the light from
The tube showed only the lead spec
trum, after q current Of so TO 100 am.
perea had been passed through 1t in
the form Of successive sparks for a
time, the lead spectrum gradually be-
gan to disappear. Instead Of the
lines indicating this element, those of
mercury gradually appeared on the
plate, together with those of thallium,
a rather rare metal which lies between
lead and mercury In the list Of the
clements.
Though the lead spectrum almost
completely disappeared, this does not
prove the tranSmutation to be strong,
Prof. SHIFTS reports. ''as it is known
that a small quantity of mercury can
cause the spectrum of another eIe-
ment to disappear. But, at all events,
our spectra show in very convincing
way the transmutation of lead into
mercury"
The presence OF this synthetic mer-
Jury was confirmed by a chemical
test. for when iodine vapor was passed
through the tube containing the prod
not Of II hours of sparkling the ia
miliar. red color Of mercury todide ap-
peared