Gas Matter Research Articles

Variable Stars and the Constitution of the Sun

VARIABLE STARS.—The theory of variable stars set forth by Dr. Brester in a recent essay1 somewhat resembles those suggested by Zöllner in 1865,2 and by Dr. Lohse in 1877.3 Briefly, Zöllner's theory regards variability as being due to the formation of scoriæ on the photospheres of the stars and their subsequent dispersion by the heat due to chemical combinations which take place in virtue of reduced temperature. Dr. Lohse substitutes absorption by the cooled atmospheres of the stars for the reduction of light by scoriae as in Zöllner's theory, although both agree as to the cause of the removal of the light-obstructing agencies. The theory suggested by Dr. Brester is a little more ambitious than either of these, and, to give a translation of his own statement, “All the phenomena that variable stars present to us are the varied effects of one cause—the intermittent chemical combination at the cool external layers of that which had previously been dissociated by heat”(p. 1). All the explanations are based on the assumption that the stars are stratified spherical agglomerations of gaseous matter, the different layers having different compositions according to their distances from the centre.

III. Action of an intermittent beam of radiant heat upon gaseous matter

The Royal Society has already done me the honour of publishing a long series of memoirs on the interaction of radiant heat and gaseous matter. These memoirs did not escape criticism. Distinguished men, among whom the late Professor Magnus and the late Professor Buff may be more specially mentioned, examined my experiments, and arrived at results different from mine.

III. Further experiments on the action of an intermittent beam of radiant heat on gaseous matter. Thermometric measurements

In the concluding paragraph of the note communicated on the 10th of January to the Royal Society these words occur:—“The vapours of all compound liquids will, I doubt not, be found sonorous in the intermittent beam.” Since that time I have examined eighty different liquids, both at the ordinary temperature of the air and at their boiling temperatures, and have verified so far the prediction just quoted. In all cases I have obtained musical sounds—some feeble, some moderate, and some exceedingly strong. I have, moreover, determined by thermometric expansion the absorptions exerted by the vapours of more than twenty of these liquids, and it is my intention to subject the whole' of them to this test. The harmony and mutual support exhibited by two series of experiments, conducted in accordance with these two diverse methods, are on the whole admirable.

XIV. On the absorption of gases by solids

During the progress of the investigations which I have from time to time had the honour of bringing under the notice of the Royal Society, I have again and again noticed the apparent disappearance of gases inclosed in vessels of various materials when the disappearance could not be accounted for upon the assumption of ordinary leakage. After a careful examination of the subject I found that the solids absorbed or dissolved the gases, giving rise to a striking example of the fixation of a gas in a solid without chemical action. In carrying out that most troublesome investigation, the crystalline separation of carbon from its compounds, the tubes used for experiment have been in nine cases out of ten found to be empty on opening them, and in most cases a careful testing by hydraulic press showed no leakage. The gases seemed to go through the solid iron, although it was 2 inches thick. A series of experiments with various linings were tried. The tube was electro-plated with copper, silver, and gold, but with no greater success. Siliceous linings were tried fusible enamels and glass—but still the' tubes refused to hold the contents. Out of thirty-four experiments made since my last results were published, only four contained any liquid or condensed gaseous matter after the furnacing. I became convinced that the solid matter at the very high pressure and temperature used must be pervious to gases.

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Action of an intermittent beam of radiant heat upon gaseous matter

Cancer cells exhibit altered biophysical and biomechanical properties that contribute to an overall altered mechanical phenotype. Increasing evidence demonstrates that cancer cells are often associated with decreased bulk stiffness and higher contractility, properties that facilitate increased motility and invasiveness. These changes in cellular properties are most often due to subcellular alterations in the cytoskeletal organization that results from both changes in intracellular regulators as well as changes to the tumor microenvironment. This review will highlight recent key findings describing the role of upregulated cytoskeletal scaffolding proteins and signaling circuits, as well as microenvironmental cues that influence cytoskeletal regulation and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition to alter cancer cell stiffness and contractility. We also briefly discuss the emerging role of extracellular microvesicles in long-range cell–cell modulation of cytoskeletal mechanics and malignant transformation.

On Some Points Relating to the Dynamics of “Radiant Matter”

AS the important researches of Mr. Crookes may be said to have made the evidence of the molecular state of matter (grounded on indirect reasoning) almost ocularly visible—the mechanics of gaseous matter therefore acquires a fresh interest. As some years back the present writer devoted much thought to the clear realisation of the nature of the motions of the molecules of gases in connection with a proposed explanation of the mode of propagation of sound on the basis of the kinetic theory (published in the Philosophical Magazine for June, 1877), it then appeared to him that the systematic regularity of the motions of the molecules of gases was not in practice so generally appreciated as it might be; although of course the mathematical basis of the subject was well established. It has been not unusual to speak of the extreme “irregularity” of the normal motions of gaseous molecules—which is undoubtedly true of any molecule taken individually. The comparison of the molecules of a gas to a “swarm of bses” (sometimes adopted), though no doubt highly convenient and useful to aid the conceptions in some respects, has probably gone to support (rather than not) the idea of a kind of confusion in the motions of the constituent molecules of gases; whereby the systematic regularity (or symmetry of the motion) tends to be left out of view. This will perhaps appear more evident if I state the following proposition in regard to a gas, which is only a direct corollary from the established mathematical principles—true in every state of the gas, but emphasised by rarefaction.

Action of an Intermittent Beam of Radiant Heat Upon Gaseous Matter 1

THE Royal Society has already done me the honour of publishing a long series of memoirs on the interaction of radiant heat and gaseous matter. These memoirs did not escape criticism. Distinguished men, among whom the late Prof. Magnus and the late Prof. Buff may be more specially mentioned, examined my experiments, and arrived at results different from mine. Living workers of merit have also taken up the question, the latest of whom,2 while justly recognising the extreme difficulty of the subject, and while verifying, so far as their experiments reach, what I had published regarding dry gases, find me to have fallen into what they consider grave errors in my treatment of vapours.

Is the Sun One-sided?

WHEN Broun and Hornstein detected the existence of a terrestrial magnetic inequality, of which the period is nearly that of the sun's rotation, it was natural to regard this inequality as a direct result of the rotation of our luminary. Nevertheless, there are grave reasons against this hypothesis. In the first place, it is extremely difficult to imagine the sun to be one-sided in its magnetic influence. From what we know of our luminary, it must in a great measure be composed of gaseous matter, of which the outer layers are in violent motion, so that we can hardly imagine one meridian to be permanently different from another.

II. The calculus of chemical operations; being a method for the investigation by means of symbols, of the laws of the distribution of weight in chemical change. — Part II. On the analysis of chemical events

“ The Observer is not he who merely sees the thing which is before his eyes, but he who sees what parts that thing is composed of .” —J. Stuart Mill. The first part of this Calculus was devoted to the construction of those rudimentary tools of analytical investigation termed Chemical Symbols. I have there given expression, by a system of arbitrary signs, to certain mental conceptions and combinations of conceptions which enter into exact chemical inquiries. This involves an analysis of those conceptions. But something more, too, is there effected. For the study of these questions necessitates the reconstruction (to a certain extent) of the fundamental ideas of the science and, especially, the reconsideration of a problem supposed to have been, long since, finally determined, namely, the constitution of the units of ponderable matter, of which I have given a new theoretical analysis. I shall not attempt to give any summary of these results, which, in my previous Memoir, have been discussed as briefly as is consistent with clearness. At the same time I should observe that the following pages can only be intelligible to those who have already made themselves acquainted with the principles of this Calculus, and to such alone they are addressed. There is, however, a point of fundamental importance which as yet has been only incidentally touched, namely, the origin of the hypothesis that the unit of hydrogen is an “undistributed weight,” which is the keystone of the system here adopted, and the reasons by which that hypothesis is justified, on which it is desirable, before proceeding further, to offer a somewhat fuller explanation. The following slight outline of the treatment of the subject pursued in this Calculus is given merely with the view of introducing these questions. For the effective consideration of the chemical properties of matter it is necessary to refer these properties to a common standard of comparison. Our first step, therefore, was the definition of the “Unit of ponderable matter” (I. Section I. (10)). In the selection of this unit we are guided by the same principles as those on which we select the unit of length, the unit of weight, the unit of heat, our choice being in all such cases determined by what is convenient for the special purpose in view’. Now the objects of our study are the chemical nature and transformations of gaseous matter. If, therefore, we wish to reason with impartiality, we must compare the properties of equal volumes of gases existing under the same conditions of temperature and pressure, for no reason can be assigned for comparing unequal volumes. All gases must be treated alike.

Physical Properties of Matter in the Liquid and Gaseous States *

II.Law of Gay-Lussac.—That the law of Gay-Lussac in the case of the so-called permanent gases, or in general terms of gases greatly above their critical points, holds good at least at ordinary pressures, within the limits of experimental error, is highly probable from the experiments of Regnault; but the results I have obtained with carbonic acid will show that this law, like that of Boyle, is true only in certain limiting conditions of gaseous matter, and that it wholly fails in others. It will be shown that not only does the coefficient of expansion change rapidly with the pressure, but that, the pressure or volume remaining constant, the coefficient changes with the temperature. The latter result was first obtained from a set of preliminary experiments, in which the expansion of carbonic acid under a pressure of seventeen atmospheres was observed at 4°, 20°, and 54°; and it has since been fully confirmed by a large number oi experiments made at different pressures and well-defined temperatures. These experiments were conducted by the two methods commonly known as the method of constant pressure and the method of constant volume. The two methods, except in the limiting conditions, do not give the same values for the coefficient of expansion; but they agree in this respect, that at high pressures the value of that coefficient changes with the temperature. While I have confined this statement to the actual results of experiment, I have no doubt that future observations will discover, in the case, at least, of such gases as carbonic acid, a similar but smaller change in the value of the co-efficient for heat at low pressures. The numerous experiments I have made on this subject will shortly be communicated in detail to the Society; and for the present I will only give the following results:—

XVII. An experimental inquiry on the action of electricity on gases. —I. On the action of electricity on oxygen

The following pages contain the result of a prolonged series of experiments regarding the action of electricity upon certain kinds of gaseous matter. The instrument of this inquiry, by aid of which the gases were submitted to this action, is the induction-tube of W. Siemens, an admirable and simple piece of apparatus, which enables us not only thus to operate upon the gases, but also to collect the products of the experiment with a view to their estimation and analysis. This instrument renders it practicable to utilize for the purposes of chemical investigation the vast powers of the coil of Ruhmkorff, and places at our disposal a new engine of research. The results at which I have already arrived are of sufficient importance to justify the anticipation that the changes thus produced by the action of electricity upon gases will prove to be a field of inquiry not inferior in interest to the electrolysis of liquids. In this first memoir I shall treat of the action of electricity upon oxygen gas, and in a subsequent inquiry, the results of which I hope speedily to lay before the Society, it is my intention to consider the action of electricity upon carbonic acid and carbonic oxide gas. The investigations of Schönbein in reference to ozone throw but little light upon its nature, mainly for the reason that this chemist neglected the use of the most fundamental instruments of chemical research, and rarely even attempted any quantitative valuation of its properties ; hence it is that we owe our most important knowledge upon this subject, not to Schönbein, who made it the study of his life, but to other investigators.

Remarks on the Greenland Meteorites

The meteorites which I discovered at Ofivak, in Greenland, in 1870, most of which have now been brought home by the expedition of this year under the command of Baron v. Otter, seem to have formed the principal masses of an enormous meteoric fall, which took place during the Miocene period, extending over an immense area (some 200 English miles) not only of the region occupied by the Greenland basalt, but also where the country is composed of granite-gneiss. The native iron is very variable in appearace; but as far as I yet can judge, it is free from silicates, notwithstanding that pieces of basalt (apparently?) are imbedded in the exterior of the blocks, apparently filling cavities in the outer surface of the original meteorites. The basalt at a distance from this locality does not contain any native iron; it is only in the immediate vicinity of the iron masses themselves that native iron along with pebbles is found in the basalt, which at this place is clearly seen to be a subsequently consolidated basalt-tuff and not congealed lava. That this iron is of eruptive origin appears impossible to me, because:—(1) the iron, upon being heated, evolves gaseous matter even up to as much as 100 times the volume of the iron itself; (2) it contains distinct isolated paritcles of sulphide of iron, which are imbedded in the rest of the mass of iron, which in itself is free or nearly free from sulphur; (3) the external form of the

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Solar Eruptions and Magnetic Storms

AT a recent meeting of the Astronomical Society a paper was read by Mr. Ranyard, in which some suggestions were put forward concerning the possibility of accounting for the solar prominences on the supposition that they may be caused by the projection of matter from a lower level, and that such an uprush into and through the layers above, emerging into the lighter envelope of the chromosphere, might lift before it a cone of compression of the gaseous matter, producing an elevation on the surface, visible to us as a prominence. And the solid particles or masses thus projected might form meteorites, the shape of the prominence being afterwards modified by other causes.

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II. On the action of rays of high refrangibility upon gaseous matter

This paper is an expansion of the Researches already communicated to the Royal Society on the Chemical Action of Light on Gaseous Matter. (See Proceedings, vol. xvii. p. 92.)

XIX. On the action of rays of high refrangibility upon gaseous matter

Within the last ten years I have had the honour of submitting to the Royal Society a series of investigations the principal aim of which was to render the less refrangible rays of the spectrum interpreters and expositors of the molecular condition of matter. Unlike the beautiful researches of Melloni and Knoblauch, these inquiries made radiant heat a means to an end. My thoughts were fixed on it in relation to the matter through which it passed. Placing before my mind such images of molecules and their constituents as modem science justifies or renders probable, such images of the luminiferous ether and its motions as the undulatory theory enables us to form, I endeavoured to fashion and execute experiments founded upon these conceptions which should give us a surer hold upon molecular constitution.

V. On the absorption and radiation of heat by gaseous and liquid matter.—Fourth memoir

The Royal Society has already done me the honour of publishing in the Philosophical Transactions three memoirs on the relations of radiant heat to the gaseous form of matter. In the first of these memoirs* it was shown that for heat emanating from the blackened surface of a cube filled with boiling water, a class of bodies which had been previously regarded as equally, and indeed, as far as laboratory experiments went, perfectly diathermic, exhibited vast differences both as regards radiation and absorption. At the common tension of one atmosphere the absorptive energy of olefiant gas, for example, was found to be 290 times that of air, while when lower pressures were employed the ratio was still greater. The reciprocity of absorption and radiation on the part of gases was also experimentally established in this first investigation. In the second inquiry† I employed a different and more powerful source of heat, my desire being to bring out with still greater decision the differences which revealed themselves in the first investigation. By carefully purifying the transparent elementary gases, and thus reducing the action upon radiant heat, the difference between them and the more strongly acting compound gases was greatly augmented. In this second inquiry, for example, olefiant gas at a pressure of one atmosphere was shown to possess 970 times the absorptive energy of atmospheric air, while it was shown to be probable that when pressures of 1/30th of an atmosphere were compared, the absorption of olefiant gas was nearly 8000 times that of air. A column of ammoniacal gas, moreover, 3 feet long, was found sensibly impervious to the heat employed in the inquiry, while the vapours of many of the volatile liquids were proved to be still more opaque to radiant heat than even the most powerfully acting permanent gases. In this second investigation, the discovery of dynamic radiation and absorption is also announced and illustrated, and the action of odours and of ozone on radiant heat is made the subject of experiment.

X. On the absorption and radiation of heat by gaseous and liquid matter.—Fourth memoir

X. <i>On the absorption and radiation of heat by gaseous and liquid matter</i>.—Fourth memoir