Abstract
IN an interesting letter on the above subject in NATURE of October 23 Lord Rayleigh mentions that, when used with accurately crossed Nicols, “a circular disc of optical quality silica showed a spiral structure”. Upon reading this letter I was reminded of a very interesting colour effect I saw several years ago in fused quartz which had been acted on by the rays from radium. As is well known, crystalline quartz assumes a uniform yellowish-brown or brownish-red colour when “rayed” by the rays of radio-active substances; the formation of coloured streaks and of patches similar to the markings of marble has also been observed. On the other hand, fused quartz generally assumes a uniform brownish-violet colour when exposed to radium rays.
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LAWSON, R. The Doubly Refracting Structure of Silica Glass. Nature 104, 335 (1919). https://doi.org/10.1038/104335a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/104335a0
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