Abstract
I HAVE to thank Mr. R. J. Moss (January 2, p. 198) for the true explanation of the extraordinary increase of conductivity of a selenium bridge enclosed in an exhausted tube. The air pump employed, in the first instance, to produce the exhaustions was the mercury pump of Topler, and it occurred to me that the mercury vapour might be objectionable. The enormous magnitude of the effect, however, induced me to ignore this vapour. The drop in resistance was finally from 61 megohms to 9.7 ohms. After seeing Mr. Moss's letter I made another bridge, enclosed it in a glass tube, and exhausted this tube with a Fleuss. The result was now an increase of resistance in the bridge from 57 megohms to 110 megohms—an increase which can be easily explained. Whether or not the exhaustion produces increased sensitiveness to light and other benefits I cannot yet say. Dr. Shelford Bid-well's conjecture that there was a short circuit in the bridge is the first explanation that naturally occurs, but from the nature of the bridge no short circuit is possible. The metallic parts are absolutely fixed, and separated by thicknesses of glass or mica sometimes amounting to 1 mm.
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MINCHIN, G. The Photoelectric Property of Selenium. Nature 77, 222 (1908). https://doi.org/10.1038/077222b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/077222b0
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