Abstract
In the present article three distinct methods will be given to show that the penetrating radiation which produces part of the ionization in closed vessels is not due to γ rays from radium in the ground itself. It seems quite probable that the penetrating radiation must be due to radioactive products in the air and it is quite probable that the origin of these products is in the ground as Elster and Geitel's theory indicates. The first method is based upon the radium content of the various rocks as analyzed by Strutt and Eve. The highest value for the radium content of sedimentary rocks was found to be 2.92 (10)−12 grams of radium per gram of rock. The mean value found by Strutt for sedimentary rocks was 1.1 (10)−12 grams and by Eve 0.8 (10)−12 gram. The value of the radium content varies greatly with the locality, but for surface soils which are subjected to all the various kinds of weather changes the radium content is probably smaller than that found above. For instance Strutt found a radium content for chalk at the bottom of a cliff to be 0.39 (10)−12 gram and at the top of the same cliff 0.12 (10)−12 gram.
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