HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Blyth Standard, 1930-02-13, Page 6Were the Alchemists Right?
F was surprised to see in a book on
polluter science recently published tt
chaple' evaded "Tho Alchemists
Were Right" anti to lied that the au
thor believed that, as regards ih
trio usmntatte1 of I 11 chemical ole
snouts, "the 0101101010 ts were flunks
mentally right". It is true that mho
)(10110101010 were aware that gold and
other precious metals were different
100m baser ones, and that they col
0010011 the idea that the latter might
Abe changed into the former by heat,
the use of chemicals, or other artifice;
it is true also that transmutation of
elements is a process occurring la na-
lure and one that has been rattled
out in the laboratory. It may be 0r•
geed, therefore, that in ono sense the
alchemists were right in that they at-
tempted to do In their (lay, with the
little knowledge and technical me
thuds available, what the vast re-
.sol1le(s of the twentieth century have
shown to bo possible. A closer ex-
aminatiou of the facts, however, will
shoo• that where the alchemists fail
ed sae fail, and that It is knowledge
of the fundamental part of the atom,
the nucleus, 0111011 has lid to our
success. The alchemists wore only
right in that they could not de what
0c'cumlot do; 501110lly they were
fundamentally wrong,
Claims that transmutation is occur-
ring us may occur come front three
sources, i11 radio -activity it is claim
ed that the very heaviest elements
are undergoing a spontaneous trans-
formation which results veitiably 10
time [production of one element from
0110!llsr. Secondly, 1t 10 claimed that
when certain of the lighter elements
more particularly nitrogen fluorine,
so0ulrn, aluminium and phasp::ous,
are bombarded with the charged
atoms of helium, ejected by radium
and other Indio -active elements, hy
tiro;+n and probably other elements
are formed. Lastly there are claims
of a miscellaueoes character; the
production of gold from mercury, of
tnereu03' from lead, and of thallium
from lead by electrical means, the
breakdown of tnngstet into 11elhtin by
Passage of a large electric current,
and, most astonishing of all, the pro-
duction of 0011(101 front ]hydrogen 10
presence of the rare metal palladium.
11 is accepted at the iso prr,semt time
that in radio -active clmnge tram.
muteflon is occurring In nature. The
characteristic property of an element
Is its unique atomic number, the post•
tire charges borne by the toy 1111010115
situated at the centre of every afoul.
Thee nurleme of an atom of a radio-
active element Is able to expel) part of
itself spontaneously in two ways;
either as an atone of helium bearing.
two positive charges of electricity, or
as an electron, one negative charge.
In either case, ,01nc0 the charge on
the (melees is altered, the nucleus of
one element has become that of an-
other, In this way every radio-ac•I
live element known is becoming trans-
muted more or loss quickly into an-.
other 0101110111. The radio -active e)e-'
melds are, however, confined to the
very heaviest of elements; bismuth,:
lead and mercury, heavy though they
are. are just too light to lie within the
raig0 of elements 01(111) are ratllo•'
active. Other characteristics of 1110
radioactive 01011100LS are the 0)00(1
taneily with which either the charg-'
et) atom of helium or tie electron are
ejected from the nucleus and the very
large amount of energy whicit accom-
panies these °)cottons. Alterations
of temperature and pressure and the
application of large quantities of elec-
trical energy have altered not a
'whit the rate at which a raddo-activo
transmutation occurs. It is a pro•
cess which man can observe; he does
not know how to alter it; he has not
au00001ed in imitating it. Before
man existed radioactive changes wore
proceeding at exactly the sante rate
as they aro now observed to proceed. 1
T`e second claim, the production of 1
hydrogen and possibly other elements
from the bombardment of light ele-
needs by charged helium atoms, le 1
also accepted as genuine transmute -
tion. The charged helium atom
spantoneously e)0cled by the radio-
active °lenient radium 0 is shot out 1
with a velocity of about 12,000 miles e
per second.. It Is a very, very tiny s
inejectile, but, plass for mass, has t
.boat 400,000,000 times the energy of e
a rifle bullet, When it strikes a 0
carom of zinc sulphide it emits a n
Pas'' of light which may be observed g
through a low-power microscope by n
eyes well rested in the dark, The
flash has been proved to be due to the 1
collision et a single charged helium P
atomwith the molecues of the zinc p
sulphide scree 1. It is found, how -
over, that if the screen be moved 10
oxygen at atuosphe'0 prossmdo m000
than 7 centrinlelres from the radium,
no light due to theeo charged atoms
e
can be observed; that is because the
7 centimetres of gas offers so 11111011
resistance to the passage of these
charged atoms that they lack the
energy necessary to cause a flash of
ligirt. If, next, these atoms have to
force theft passage through a thin
sheet of paper or mica, or metal they
are found to he stopped nine' 000n -
or; they go, however, a distance which
is roughly inversely proportional to
the density of the thin sheet inter-
posed. Sir Ereest Rutherford and
Ibis pupils have shown that in cer-
tait cases anomalous results are ob-
tained. If a sheet of aluminium
equivalent in stopping power to 7
- centimetres of oxygen be interposed
betwce.n the zinc sulphide scrum and
the radium there ought to bo no
flashes; actually flashes aro obtained
on the screen even when it Inas bees
moved so far away as 90 centimetres.
These flashes have been shown to he
duo to tiro impact of charged hydro-
gen atoms which, it was Inferred, had
broien off from the nuclei If alumin-
11un 0s a result of headlong collisions
between the laitor nod the charged
nine of helium The nlunnbe of alunf-
Miens nuclei struck 111 this way is re-
latively extremely small. Sir E.
Rutherford has calculated that only
about two charged helium atones col.
lido In such a way with the alumin-
ium nucle1 that a piece of hydrogee
is broken of, although each passes
through about 100,000 atoms of alum-
inilun Imbue it is stopped; that Is to
say, there are only two really success
ful lits of this kind in 100,000,000,000
shots, Both at Cambridge and in
Vienna this subject has been greatly
studied and about a dozen elements of
which nitrogen, fluorine, sodium, al-
uminium and phosphorus are chief,
have been attacked in this remark-
able way; 10 every case hydrogen re-
sults, The question whether the
hydrogen cones from the target (the
nitrogen, aluminium, etc.) or from
the projectile (talo charged atone 'of
helium) has been answered es "neith-
er" by experiments with nitrogen in
Sir E. Rutherfortl's laboratory. The
hydrogel Is ejected after Projectile
anti target 110vo coalesced, leaving be-
hind an atom that is very probably
011 atom of oxygen with the 0lnlormal
atomic mass of seventeen, instead of
the usual sixteen. This Is the first
i case known in which a heavier ele-
meat has sen made from a Helder In
the lao'atory, oxygen being heavier'
than nitrogen, This extremely inter
eating branch of knowledge 1s at pres-
ent 111 Its infancy.
It rentable to discuss briefly the;
last class of supposed transmutation,
the production of gold from mercury,
1101 flint from tungsten, 11011001 from
hydrogen, and so forth. These
claims have been persistent of late,
and have conte from all over the
world, but no case is accepted by the
scientific world as genuine, In such
as have been critically examined the
supposed transmutation has been
shown to be simply an unexpected
contamination of the originally pure
element by the element into which
trans.the former was supposed to be trans.
muted, Thus, the production of a
very small but definite quantity of
gold from mercury by electrical means
has been traced to contamination of
the mercury by gold 00010 objects in
the laboratory, such as the spectacles
of the experimenter; the helium, pro:
(laced from the hydrogen in contact
with the metal palladium, has been
Graced to the air supposedly excluded
from the apparatus in which the ex-
perhnent was taking place; and so
forth. When really rigid precautions
are taken to exclude the possibility of
contamination of the element, which'
s supposed to result front the trans;
nutation, none of it lo found. Not
all the eases of this hind have been
disposed of in this way, but there is
no likelihood that those outstanding
differ in Rind from those investigated.
These experimental failures, although
disappointing to those who would
Ike to take gold from lead or mer-
ury, or to tap the supposed enormous
torn of energy 01111in the atom, are
o bo expected from present 011501 -
age of the structure of the atom, The
sseltdal part of the structure, the
ucleus, Is known to be so tiny and so
marded from attack, that such ther-
101 and electrical forces at present
available for direction against it aro
oughably inadequate. The only
1-0otieal suggestion so far is the enh-
loymont of the swift charged atoms Il
Canada's Most Popular Winter Sport
ANSWER THE CALL OF WINTER TO OUT•OF-DOORS
The photograph here shotes three young 'Toronto ladies, all enthusiasts
of
the glorious 011000 of skiing, ready for a real time in Ifigh Park, Toronto,
Less
of boli t)s elements,
many oP t
-ahe World's Wheat Less
radioetSve eleeuts, and, as stated World �j%
above, Herta are epowerless excret Than Last Year
against contain of the 11„ hto• 01010011t0.
To soul ftp and conclude. Our
knowledge of transmutation Is based Toronto.—The fact that the Cana -
ant 1ebat 10 11110011 of radio
-artivity Out fetal Wheat fool was able to main.Oho structure of the atom. Phis icnowl' tale Its credit, distribute Its sales in
' edge reveals the existence of epos• an orderly fashion, 11u1 new markets
taneons transformation among the for large surpluses of low grade
very heaviest of the elements, and
has led wheat, ;and maintain a fair price level
to 111 1[ P
e t 000001• 3' 11 a la0' against the pressure of the whole
jectile which produces transuuttation buying world, was a tribute to the
among a few of the lightest. Sat, It pool marketing system, according to
revealing to us the properties of the George McIver, general sales man -
nucleus of the atom, it has shown ns ager of it Canadian wheat Pool,
how' very (1111'101111 it would be to
carry out any process of 10011011011a- The world's crop for 1929-30 is esti-
tion other than the two mentioned; 11(11101 at 3,390,000,000 bushels, wldeil
so fa', the complete failure of 0)1(0r is 535,000,000 bushels less than the
experimental methods of initiating r0cord Production of last year, and
transmutation is in full agre°inetL 142,000,000 bushels less than the five -
with ihls knowHedge. Where the Year average, As mho world's earry-
alchemist failed, we still fail. Where over at the beginning of the present
(00 have succeeded is in a narrow C(o1( wa0 195,000,000 bushels 110 com-
field popened up by the expoilnlental pared to 420,000,000 bushels Inst year,
mora of the past thI•ty yea's, and the total prospective supply of wheat
based on Meas that never entered the 011 Aug, 1, 1029, was 3,985,000,000
mind of mal before 1806, the year of bushels 01' a decrease of 360,000,000
the discovery of radio -activity, -.-A, S. bushels over last year.,
Russell. Canada is estimated to have avail-
able for export as wheat and flour
22-1,000,000 bushels compared to 407;
Fashions, Fads, Foibles 000,000 bushels last year, The United
States has a total visible supply of
Sixteen yards of goods for the nmol•
ouaise, ten yards for the shirt, to be $'1,037,000,000 bushels node up of a
worn with three pettitcoats, each con- 000 crop oP 792,000,000 and 245,000;
taiuing five or six yards, Thus was 000 bushels of caryover, Domestic
grandmother regaled, 'Tis said, 11 consumption 111 that country will be
'tools one sheep two years to outfit a a11out 675,000,000 and exportable sus.
(10111001 then; now a sills worts can plus 20,OOD,000 bushels.
do it on a Saturday afternoon. The Canadian Pool estimates tato
Dresses are lengthening with the lvotkl import requirements at ,
000,000 bushels. 770 -
"It the carryover at
s11011000; below the kneecap for the end of the present crap year will
street and business, four inches be- i e the same as the average in the
low the knee for the afternoon tea-
party; and as long as you please for past few years, 380,000,000 bushels,
evening, Materials aro of the sheer- there are only 710,000,000 bushels
est. Petticoats—if any—are light as available for export," states Mr. Mc.
a feather, made of stiff taffeta, boned Ivor "consequently if our estimate of
to resemble hoop skirts. world import requirements of 770;
1)r
Last year's party dress may 00 000,000 bushels proves to be nearly
lengthened by a flounce of tulle. The correct, the world carryover 0,11 have
flounce will serve to lengthen all our to bo reduced 60,000,000 below the
skirts, if the material floes not average for the past five years, or
269,000,000 bushels below the carry-
over
arryover of last year's crop,"
match, add a few touches of It else-
where on the garment to matte it look
as if It "belongs," as a collar, tie, belt
or pockets, A narrow skirt may be
widened by inset flares and godets. The ins and Outs
-
A gang of navvies were at work dig. 1
gin¢ a lit g trench in the road
;arty—"1-Ie's very
(100000,"
Bess—"What do you expect of a
at'!"
Radio Beacons
Now Guide Ships
Through Fog
Developments in Marine Di-
rection Finders Facilitate
Bad Weather Naviga-
tion
MOST VESSELS EQUIPPED
GEORGE R, PUTNAhl
Commissioner of Lighthouses, Depart
meet of Commerce for the U.S, write
as follows in N. Y. Herald Tribune,
When the coast Is blanketed In fog
the mariner is no longer dependent
on the foghorn for locating his ves-
sel, No use Of radio Is (001.0 valu-
able than Ole means 11 has given to
him of tatting accurato bearings 00
signals at great distances. Until re
cantly he has had no practicable
means of taking bearings on invisible
objects,
The radiocoupass on shipboard and
the radfobeacon at lighthouses and on
lightships provide the navigator with
the most important additional help
since the mariner's compass became
known the first successful signals of
this hind were established In the ap-
Preaches to Now York, and the sys-
tem las since been extended by the
Lighthouse Sovic of the Department
of Commerce, so that there are radio•
beacons at the more important light-
ships and lighthouses along the
coasts of continental United States
and Canada, the Great hakes, the
St, Lawrence River, with a few in
Alaska and 1)000)1. Important
tsignals have recently been placed at
mho 1100 approaches to the Panama
1 Canal. Itadiobeacous are also being
t installed by the other leading maxi -
time countries,
Radio Compasses on Ships
A considerable proportion of the
larger ships in tlho world are now
equipped t*ltll radioeonpassee for tak-
ing radio bearings. The navigates
may tante these bearings himself, and
the general problems in their use are
essentially the same in principle as
in the use of visual bearings; the
practical differences between radio
and eight bearings are not differences
In principle, but in the availability of
the former at vastly greater distances
and under all weather conditions,
That such a radical change in navi-
gation has been 'so quickly adopted
by marines is proof of how success-
fully It filled a long existing need.
One master says "he would not sail
a ship without a direction finder."
Distance of Bearings
Radio bearings are frequently tak-
en at distances of 100 to 200 n1iles,
and Ole possibilities a to distance ap-
pear to be limited mainly by what is
wort[ while In aavlgatioe,
This system not duly greatly facllt•
totes and safeguards the navigation
of vessels in approaching the coasts
and making harbor entrances, but It
enables vessels to take bearings on
each other when approaching in fog,
and thus to avoid collision. This
important use of radio bearings be•.
tween ship and ship is already com-
monly employed. There are import-
ant possibilities in its further develop-
ment through the use on ships of low
automatic radio transmitters.
The radio compass has made pos-
sible some of the 111001 notable ocean
rescues of recent years by giving a
moans of locating the vessel In dis-
tress through radio bearings. In a
number of great rescues In the north
Atlantic there is a strong probability
that the radio compass alone made It
possible to find the sinking ships and
rescue the crews.
The radio beacons may bo placed
at any lighthouse or on any lightship
at reasonable cost and the expense of
maintenance is moderate, as no addl.
tional personnel are required. This
0, therefore, a system which can ef-
fectively cover an area of some 300
tImes as great. There is no present
prospect, however, that the sound -in -
air or signals can be dispensed with.
There are others ways of using
radio hearings in navigation, but the
method stere briefly outlined, with
he radio compass on the ship taking t
10001nga of radi0bea0ons or other
'adto signals; is the only possible get- 1
A Sun Dance Relic
Old Indian Link with the Past
Now at National Mus-
eum at Ottawa
Though it still belongs to the Black-
foot Indians, an old, weather heat 011,
painted buffalo skull, part of the al-
tar of the Sun Mance Lodge, the most
sacred 111uUtulton to tribosmml of mho
old £0114, has been brought to tine, No-
t)o01(1 110001110 in Ottawa. -
Nothing connected 011 II the lodge
could be given or said to anyone, the
Indians said. And when 11011011 I.
s Snaith, Dominion Archaeologist, ask.
el. them if they would not like to see
some monument to their old days 1n
a great lire -proof stone building guard W
ed by a policeman and open to e
public every day, they agreed that
they would. They explained 1,110
twitter,
;
they were powerless 1m tho
It just could not be done, Then the
•
interpreter had an idea. "Supposo-
yon want it, you take It," he said, "11111
maybe you have bad luck."
Mr. Smith tools It, afterhaving
made sure from three different sources
that ho would not offend lite suscept
abilities of ever) the oldest 11111)0.11 on
the reserve. They fart not (10)001 1(1
having the skull preserved, Theywere, in fact, eager for it, as dere,
monies connected with, the aid tali
glon are now illegal and punishable by
imprisonment. The old lodges are
rapidly decaying, Long ago the Sun
Dolce was the most important fes
rival in the life of the Blackfoot.. II
occurred during midsummer when
those who had received answers to
prayers uttered in grave danger took
00(1•0 to perform 111 the dance es 0
sacrifice to 1110 spirits 0111011 had say
ed them. Societies of both leen 11(1(1
women, similar to lodges among white
men, took turns at the dance 11:11011
was usually conducted with an ac'
c0nnpau1ulent of self-imposed torture,
while the worshipper danced with iia
or her face turned mpua•d to tine sun
Periods of fasting and purification
Preceded aha dance when the worsinip•
pees prepared themselves to meet the
Writs flttingsly.
During the morning McTavish, tho
foreman, came along to the trench to
see bow the workweept•ognesslug
Suddenly he pointed to ono of thenavvies.
"Get oot o that trench," 11e ordered.
The man tiff
Hardly had lie tom so than Mc-
Tavish ordered hint to return to 1110 1
t•eihch again. 1
The operation was repeated three 0
More times, until in 1110 end the
navvy lost bis temper.
"What's the idea?" he asked. 1
"Well," laughed the foreman, "you're
bringing more earth out on your boots
than ye have ever (1000 wait your
shovel," 1
A Big Scheme
Visions of Jules Verne Rival•
ed by Scheme to Drain
North Sea
London—A number of German ongl•
nears and experts are examining the
possibilities of a scheme for drain•
fug the southern part of the North
Sea and votnhmg together, by an area
of new territory about 115,000 square Holland,
miles, England, Belgium,
Germany, and Demark, stales a re
port of a Daily Chronicle correspond.
eat front Vienna,
holland is already busy draining a
large part of the shallow Ztdder Zee,
and this new German scheme, the
visionary character of which would
doubtless have greatly appealed to
Jules Verne, aims at the construe.
[Ion of a ,tugo dam, nearly 450 miler
long and 90 feet above the sea,
et'etchhrg from the nel;lt'orh0od of
Iianstanton, 111 Norfolk 10 'he Sea.
gerrak coast of '-,Remark.
Another dam, about 150 utiles long,
wottid be built from the Essex coast
of the Thames estuary running round
the Kent coast, across the English
Channel to a point between Dover
and Calais, and then along the con•
tineatal seaboard to the Dutch port
of Scheveningen.
A third and much shorter 11am
would divert the waters of time Weser
and the Elbe into the Kiel 011101 and
the Baltic Sea, by which the shipping
of Bremen and hamburg would have
0) seek the oceans of the world.
The mouths of the Thames, the
Scheldt and the Rhino would be link-
ed by canals with the English Chan
nel. Amsterdam would became an
inland city.
The enthusiasts, who aro proposing
to establish this ")new country caps•
ble of absorbing 20,000,000 persons,"
say that minerals would be foetid 10
abundance, especially coal, beneath
the reclaimed area and that there
night even be big oil fields. And
hey consider that the wealth to bo
'01111(1 in sunken eltips would be euor-
nous,
rat method.
"Real salesmen stick 11nt11 the buyer
las used up his last '1\To1' "—William
1Vrigiey, Jr.
One's soul mate should be his sole
nate.
It is selfish charity that begins and
ends at home.
"The ono real security that a eau
can have in this world comes through
some reserve of ability that he may
have." --Henry Ford.
S'MATTER POP— An Outrage.
By C. M. PAYNE