Show ARGON AXD HELIUM TTTO Discoveries That Have Aston 1hied the ScieutiJie World The circumstances attending two recent re-cent remarkable discoveries in chemistry chemis-try that have astounded the scientific I World with the revelation of unlooked for facts have the fascinating interest of romance as related by R A Gregory Greg-ory in the Fortnight Review The author points out that as a rule great scientific discoveries are not made by intending the mind upon them Whither an investigation will lead the man of science knows not his task is to explore the realm of nature whatever what-ever road he tales is a road of knowledge know-ledge and though after devoting the labors of a lifetime to a research he may find that a shorter road would have given the amount of progress he has the satisfaction that on his way he opened up many new fields of inquiry in-quiry I is his task to accumulate facts and there is no telling what may not prove of immense value to the world These two great discoveries are cases in point Marvelous as they were their practical import could not be immediately estimated but now they are extending the domain of knowledge know-ledge far into the mysteries of the remotest re-motest space These discoveries are respectively the finding of argon asa as-a new constituent of ithe atmosphere and the identification of helium as an earthly substance The discovery of argon led to that of the second substance sub-stance As a result chemists were certainly a little disconcerted that they should so persistently have overlooked one of the components of air but their embarrassment is to some extent relieved re-lieved by the knowledge that the astronomical as-tronomical spectroscopist failed to recognize a gas which is now known to be easily and copiously Obtainable from common minerals he had though probably pro-bably met with It in the laboratory scores of times The physicist has also been brought to see the depths of his ignorance on some points connected with the kinetic theory of gases so that the Whole world of physical scLence has been disturbed by the imprisonment im-prisonment and characteristics of the two gaseous prisoners lately arrested The world is now familiar with the fact that Lord Rayleigh was led to discover argon by the observation that nitrogen extracted from the atmosphere atmos-phere was about onehalf per cent heavier than that Obtained from various vari-ous chemical compounds Research revealed that the greater weight of the former was due bo the new gas This having been established Professor Ramsay who was associated with Lord Rayleigh in his discovery experimented ex-perimented with nitrogen from various sources to see if it might not be mixed with argon or compounds of that substance sub-stance In experimenting with cle veite a rare Norwegian mineral rre anew a-new gas supposed to ibe nitrogen was given off I had however only a trace of nitrogen and spectroscopic analysis conducted by Mr Crookes proved iit to be helium a result that to astronomists is just as important as the isolation of argon is to chemists though ithe former was reached almost by accident For helium as its name implies had hitherto been regarded as an element only found existing in the sun I now proves to be fairly common com-mon on the earth and has already been found in connection with from 15 to 20 minerals I is so easily extracted ex-tracted that spectroscopists1 are a trifle depressed at its belated discovery I seems probable that its spectrum I has been observed before and the remarkable I re-markable discovery that lay within reach was not made simply from that natural tendency in the human mind not to observe unrecorded facts just a geologists had never thought of Connecting terminal moraines and similar sim-ilar formations with the work of iar formatons glaciers gla-ciers although the evidences were about them on all sides and once perceived per-ceived in connection with the glacial theory they saw them everywhere I it pointed out that spectroscopists in recent years have confined themselves Ito I-to celestial chemistry The spectroscope I spectro-scope it is predicted will take a more prominent part in chemical analysis of the future These two discoveries have already furnished astronomy with a number of valuable facts Among these is the detection of evidences of helium in the light of nebulae Professor Lockeye asa as-a result of the investigations to which he has been led by these discoveries holds that we are in the presence of a new order of gases of the highest importance to celestial chemistry though perhaps of small value to chemists chem-ists because their compounds and associated as-sociated elements are for the most part hidden deep in the earths interior inter-ior The allusion to the gases probably proba-bly contained In the heavier minerals is very suggestive and in the future study of these gases is regarded as of paramount importance in connection with questions of stellar evolution A striking experiment is that conducted con-ducted with meteorite which proved to contain the new gases Professor Ram say suggests that it was once part of a stellar body at a high temperature having an atmosphere in which hydro gen argon and helium existed with other gases The two gases have already al-ready raised some very nice points over which chemists mathematicians and physicians may wrangle for sometime some-time to come Two lines in the spectra of both argon ar-gon and helium appear to foe exactly coincident and this indicates that a third new gas not yet Isolated is common com-mon to both Professor Ramsay regards re-gards this as almost certain and Professor Pro-fessor Lockyer hints at the existence of several more What all these actual ac-tual and prospective new gases maybe may-be good for remains to be seen They may prove of some great practical util ity in themselves besides serving as pathways into a tremendous unknown But whatever the results of future work Mr Gregory declares since wor spectrum analysis became an accomplished accom-plished fact no new elements have held out greater promise of assistance in unraveling un-raveling mysteries of celestial constitutions consti-tutions than argon and helium and the them gases which are associated with |