Abstract
ONE frequently reads, in accounts of experiments on the physical or chemical action of luminous rays, that a solution of alum has been used to absorb obscure heat radiations. An instance of this occurs in your description of the investigation by M. D'Arsonval (NATURE, vol. xliv. p. 390). I should like to be informed if this practice is based upon actual evidence, or merely upon the supposition that, because alum itself cuts off a larger proportion of heat rays than any other easily available solid, its solution should be more effective than any other liquid. The only figures bearing on the question with which I am acquainted are those of Melloni, and he, as cited by Ganot, states the percentage of heat rays transmitted by alum solution as 12, and that by distilled water as 11. Why, then, not use distilled water?
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DRAPER, H. Alum Solution. Nature 44, 446 (1891). https://doi.org/10.1038/044446a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/044446a0
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