Abstract
AN extremely ingenious explanation of the peculiar green phosphorescence observed by Crookes in his researches on high vacua has recently been given by Mr. J. J. Thomson of Cambridge. This phosphorescence appears on the inner surfaces of the exhausted glass tubes whenever they are exposed to the so-called molecular bombardment of particles projected from the negative electrode. Mr. Thomson points out firstly that, as predicted by Clerk-Maxwell and verified by Rowland, a moving electrified particle acts as a current of electricity and possesses an (electro-magnetic) vector-potential. Now where such an electrified particle strikes a glass surface and rebounds, its change of velocity is accompanied by a change of vector-poteatial, and the glass against which it impinges and rebounds will be subjected to a rapid change in electromotive force. But by Clerk-Maxwell's electro-magnetic theory of light this is precisely what happens when a ray of light falls upon it. And therefore it phosphoresces as it would under the impact of an actual ray of light. It would be interesting to inquire whether all phosphorescent and fluorescent phenomena are capable of an analogous explanation in accordance with Clerk-Maxwell's theory.
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