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and polonium, we reach a point where t h e residual atom must have an atomic weight of exactly 2 0 6 . Lead appears a t this point in our old table with a weight of 2 0 7 . It must have taken great faith t o suggest that ordinary lead was a mixture. It called for further accurate work on atomic weights. Fajans and Soddy could predict this element with an atomic weight of 206, and i t had to be found in ordinary lead. No one was so well fitted for critical atomic weight work as Richards, therefore those most interested turned t o him. In 1914,he, together with Lembert, showed that lead from different sources certainly varied In atomic weight far beyond any possible error in manipulation and t h a t ordinary lead is a mixture, one of whose components has a weight of 206. Elements composing such mixtures, previously considered single elements, are now called isotopes. This was another big little thing in chemistry which has done more for knowledge of atomic structure than anything within a century. It has opened the mind of the physicist and chemist to expect the unexpected and to take up again the apparently eternal search for the ultimate possibilities of nature. CANAL RAYS
Just as the negative electron had its determined through its deflection by a magnetic field, so the of the various positive ions have also been measured. The positive ions so far studied are the residues of gaseous molecules from which one or negative electrons have been detached by electrical means. They were studied by Thornson, Wien, and others in the cathode of a conducting Geissler tube, To the space handle them by themselves they are allowed to pass through a hole in the towards u,hich they are directed by the electromotive force. This beam, quite analogous to the cathode beam of negative electrons, is called the canal ray or positive ray, Under the simultaneous influence of static and magnetic fields placed at right angles t o each other, these ions describe parabolic curves which are recorded photographically, and thus the positive ions of w,hich the positive ray is were found to correspond in mass t o the respective atomic and molecular weights of the gases in the space. This is another of those wonderful developments vc.hich was started by a single almost insignificant and remote study of an atomic fraction. It is to-day leading us chemists to revise entirely our most elementary concept~ons, It is another big littlest thing. From the self-recorded curves of the positively charged ions of many of our presumably simple gases we are obtaining, through Thornson's work, entirely new light on their composit~on~In ionized nitrogen, for example, there are found single atoms of nitrogen with one and two positive charges afid nitrogen molecules with two and even three atoms sharing a single positive charge, but there is nothing but nitrogen present. this work, is finding that some of the supAston, posedly elementary gases are mixtures of isotopes. Argon, for example, may become a mixture of an element of exactly 40 atomic weight with a few per cent of another element of 36 atomic weight. Neon, m,?.hose atomic weight was supposed to be 20.2, has been definitely proved to consist of two closely allied elements of exactly 2 o and 2 2 . Aston has thus determined Over forty atomic and molecular weights by his refinement of the positive ray method, and has found that without exception every one is a whole number. Thus the study of positive ions has led to the discovery of an entirely new field of phenomena in atoms, where the most refined measurements by physical and chemical will be necessary. The indications are that even our old intractable chlorine is t o be split up into a mixture of isotopes of 35 and 3 7 atomic weight. Evidence is therefore accumulating that all the real atomic weights are practically whole numbers and that the apparent fractional weights are due t o various mixtures of elements which in turn have whole-number atomic weights. -4mong the foremost in these opinions are Rutherford and
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Harkins who would build all the elements, even helium itself, out of the stuff in hydrogen; or, since this in turn is a positive nucleus and a negative ion, out of hydrogen nuclei and electrons. Rutherford believes he has actually produced the hydrogen nucleus from nitrogen by bombardment of nitrogen with helium nuclei, for, in this way, he obtained charged particles whose path-length was four times t h a t of the helium nucleus and corresponded with t h a t obtained by similarly decomposing hydrogen gas. No other explanation fits the facts. Harkins has discovered t h a t the elements of greatest abundance are of even atomic weights and are practically exact multiples of t h a t of helium. As this stability might be expected, compared to atoms with odd atomic weights, from stability data of radioactive decomposition, he likes to consider the helium nucleus as the weight basis of all the simpler elements of even atomic weight below nickel, and to see in the odd number atoms the additional mass of three hydrogen nuclei. Such elements as do not seem to correspond to this point of view will a t least have t o undergo a critical investigation as t o their right to exist. The positive nucleus is apparently t h e seat of what we call the atomic weight because the mass of t h e electron is insignificant compared to it. If these nuclei are built UP of hydrogen nuclei, all atomic weights will be its simpler multiples. Even with due consideration of probable isotopes, this does not exactly satisfy all the atomic weight data. The step now being taken is t o look for the necessary weight corrections in the principle of relativity. This expresses mass as equal t o the energy divided by t h e square of the velocity of light. The internal energy is evidently there in the atoms; and its quantity, if due t o or housed in the electrical charges, might be slightly different, in the case of an atom containing positive charges closely arranged, from that Of the energy Of the Same charges separated' The magnitude of such corrections, due t o the relativity principle, seems t o be of the proper dimension, and this will force t h e to study Whether we like i t or not we are proceeding along the path of conceptions new theory. We are producing new patterned after Old Ones, but pushed farther. One cannot see the end. There will be none. Starting with what we feel we know, if we are wise, we will always t r y t o extend it. What we knew Of molecules fbr a be measured by what we would expect from very small solid balls, b u t t h a t period did not endure. Now, by reducing the size Of the components and by making them electrical, we have driven the centers of all properties into smaller common corners without making the final understanding any more simple, though i t is more orderly. T h e now has to in less much more than the atom formerly did, because we have found new regularities of nature, such cathode decomposing the properties of matter are accredited t o the smallest conceivable spots where t h e slightly understood negative electricity, in formerly unsuspected indivisible units, holds itself at a definite and respectable distance from positive electricity with which i t has always previously been considered as annihilating itself. I t s motions must produce light and carry heat. I t s immobility must account for cohesion and strength of materials and its collected and arranged groupings must determine all the differences of material with which we are familiar. And yet we d o well thus to force the issues. This may be proved by the fact that our chemistry has been built UP in this way and without it no Orderly, forward-looking chemistry Seems possible.
PRESENTATION OF THE MEDAL By Charles F. Chandler NEWYORK,N. Y .
It is my privilege t o present t o Dr. Willis Rodney Whitney the Chandler Medal. I appear as the representative of the more
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than 500 of my old pupils and other friends who in 1910established this Foundation in honor of their old professor. One of these founders graduated as early as 1847, and several others during the succeeding years prior t o 1864 when I began with Professors Egleston and Vinton to teach in the newly founded School of Mines. I was deeply gratified when I learned from Professor McKee t h a t the distinguished Dr. Whitney had consented t o deliver the annual lecture. The name is dear t o me, and suggests a possible blood relationship between us. M y mother was a Miss Whitney of Boston. Dr. Whitney was born a t Jamestown, N. Y.,on August 22, 1868. He graduated a t the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1890,receiving the degree of S.B. I n 1896 he received the degree of Ph.D. a t 1,eipzig. He has been most successful as a teacher of chemistry, having filled the following positions a t the Institute of Technology: 1890-1 892: Assistant Instructor in Sanitary Chemistry 1892-1894: Instructor in Sanitary Chemistry 1898-1901 : Instructor in Theoretical Chemistry and Proximate Analysis 1901-1904: Assistant Professor in Theoretical Chemistry 1904-1908: Non-resident Associate Professor of Theoretical Chemistry 1908: Non-resident Professor of Chemical Research
Since 1900Dr. Whitney has been the Director of the Research Laboratory of the General Electric Company a t Schenectady, and during the war was a member of the Naval Consulting Board and director of research work a t Washington. Words and time fail me t o give you any adequate idea of the number, variety, and importance of the researches which have been successfully conducted by him and his willing assistants and associates during the past twenty years. Some idea of the magnitude of his activities can be realized from the fact t h a t he has developed the research laboratory a t Schenectady from its inception till now he has more than 1 5 0 persons working with him.
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YORK SECTION, SOCIgTe D E CHIMIE
INDUSTRIELLE The meeting of the New York Section of the Soci6t6 de Chimie Industrielle was held in the auditorium of the Chemists’ Club on Friday evening, May 14,1920. Prof. M. T. Bogert, of Columbia University, presided in the absence of the chairman, Dr. I,. H. Baekeland. The opening address of the meeting was delivered by Hon. Maurice Casenave, chairman of the French High Commission , t o the United States. After hearty words of congratulation t o chemists for the splendid part they had played during the war and with expression of the hope that the same talents and energy would be devoted to the solution of the problems of peace, M. Casenave paid a glowing tribute to the prompt work of reconstruction and rehabilitation now in progress in France. He emphasized the necessity of France producing more and importing less in order t o stabilize its exchange. He gave an interesting account of the development of water power now in progress in France and expressed the hope and belief that within five years the hydroelectric developments in France would reach a total of five million horse power which would make France no longer dependent upon outside countries for its coal supply. A vivid picture was painted of the difficulties of transportation which had handicapped the shipment of potash from Alsace. I n introducing the second speaker, Mr. Joseph H . Choate, Jr., the presiding officer emphasized the important bearing of the coal-tar chemical industry upon our potentialities in chemical warfare. Mr. Choate held the close attention of his audience
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It would require a series of lectures t o lay before you a n adequate account of the various important results which have been developed under Dr. Whitney’s direction. The first radical improvement in the carbon incandescent filament since Edison first produced it was due t o Dr. Whitney’s personal work. The “Gem” lamp which he developed with its “metallized” filament, embodying a new form of carbon, gave 2 5 per cent more light with the same wattage than the standard carbon filament lamp. Still greater improvements resulted in his laboratory when the drawn wire of tungsten gave us the “tungsten lamp,” then the gas-filled half watt lamp. Then in arc lighting the laboratory developed the magnetic electrodes, and produced the most successful arc lamp of to-day. Did time warrant, I would gladly tell you about numerous other wonderful discoveries and inventions in the practice of the industrial arts which Dr. Whitney has suggested and inspired in his twenty years of research work, and also remind you of the numerous scientific papers he has published in the journals. Dr. Whitney’s successful labors have been recognized by his fellow scientists. H e is a member of the following societies: The American Chemical Society (President in 1909) American Electrochemical Society (President in 1912) Society of Testing Materials American Institute of Mining Engineers American Institute of Electrical Engineers Societe Chimique de Paris American Academy of Arts and Sciences American Physical Society British Institute of Metals American Association for the Advancement of Science
Now, Dr. Whitney, permit me t o present t o you, as representative of the president and trustees of Columbia University and the more than 500 alumni and friends who established this Foundation in 1910, “The Chandler Medal,” in recognition of your wonderful and successful labors in the application of physics and chemistry t o the industries of this country.
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by his effective presentation of the commercial methods used by the Germans against the chemical industries of this country before the war. He gave in detail the activities of the Germans in seeking to prevent in this country the manufacture of salicylic acid, oxalic acid, potassium bicarbonate, aniline oil, and bromine. From the Hearings before the Senate Committee, he read an extract from an article by Mr. C. H. Burr in the July 1919 number of the Quarterly Review, in which Mr. Burr, after describing in general the pre-war status of German business in the United States and describing in outline the system o€ graft commonly in practice, gave an account of a “convention called under the cartel” a t which the convention entered on its minutes the following resolution: Resolved, That henceforth bribery shall be abolished, except in the United States and in Russia.
Mr. Choate also called attention t o an article from the October rgrg issue of the German journal Chemie in which it was stated (translated): So far as the chemical industry is concerned, let me say, in the first place, t h a t the aniline dye industry and the pharmaceutical industry have now so thoroughly recovered that there can be no thought whatever of outside financial assistance. Even to-day the German chemical industry is again in a position to take up a t once the leading role in the world’s markets.
He also read from a prospectus put out by the Badische Anilin 81 Soda Fabrik Co. in which were given the details of the large increase in workmen employed by this company as compared with the number employed during the war or prior t o the war.
