Abstract
LONDON.
Physical Society, November 13. — Captain Abney, President in the chair.—A paper on some experiments with Rontgen's radiation, by Prof. Threlfall and Mr. Pollock, was, in the absence of the authors, read by the Secretary.—The authors describe a form of Crookes' tube which, while it can be made by any one capable of the most elementary glass-blowing, gives a plentiful supply of Röntgen rays. The results of their experiments may be summed up as follows: (1) The Röntgen radiation does not consist in the projection of gaseous matter, or, if it does, the amount of such matter involved is extraordinarily small. (2) The Röntgen radiation does not consist in the projection of æther streams having a velocity above a couple of hundred metres per second; this is true, whether the radiation takes place in air or in benzene. (3) The properties of the æther regarded as determining the velocity of electromagnetic waves are not greatly changed (i.e. not at all within our experimental limits) by the Röntgen radiation; and this applies alike to the æther in air and in benzene. (4) A selenium cell composed of platinum electrodes and highly purified selenium, is affected by Röntgen radiation to an extent which is comparable with the effect produced by diffused daylight. (5) No permanent or temporary electromotive force is set up in a selenium cell by the Röntgen radiation.
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Societies and Academies. Nature 55, 70–72 (1896). https://doi.org/10.1038/055070a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/055070a0