taining radium and the other polonium, and which show an equal degree of activity in the condenser of Fig. 1. If each is covered with a thin leaf of aluminium, the second appears considerably less active than the first, and the same is the case when they are placed under the same fluorescent screen, if the latter is of sufficient thickness, or is placed at a certain distance from the two radio-active bodies.
Energy of Radiation.
Whatever be the method of research employed, the energy of radiation of the new radio-active substances is always found to be considerably greater than that of uranium and thorium. Thus it is that, at a short distance, they act instantaneously upon a photographic plate, whereas an exposure of twenty-four hours is necessary when operating with uranium and thorium. A fluorescent screen is vividly illuminated by contact with the new radioactive bodies, whilst no trace of luminosity is visible with uranium and thorium. Finally, the ionising action upon air is considerably stronger in the ratio of 106 approximately. But it is, strictly speaking, not possible to estimate the total intensity of the radiation, as in the case of uranium, by the electrical method described at the beginning (Fig. 1). With uranium, for example, the radiation is almost completely absorbed by the layer of air between the plates, and the limiting current is reached at a tension of 100 volts. But the case is different for strongly radio-active bodies. One portion of the radiation of radium consists of very penetrating rays, which penetrate the condenser and the metallic plates, and are not utilised in ionising the air between the plates. Further, the limiting current cannot always be obtained for the tensions supplied; for example, with very active polonium the current remains proportional to the tension between 100 and 500 volts. Therefore the experimental conditions which give a simple interpretation are not realised, and, consequently, the numbers obtained cannot be taken as representing the measurement of the total radiation; they merely point to a rough approximation.
Complex Nature of the Radiation.
The researches of various physicists (MM. Becquerel, Meyer and von Schweidler, Giesel, Villard, Rutherford, M. and Mdme. Curie) have proved the complex nature of the radiation of radio-active bodies. It will be convenient to specify three kinds of rays, which I shall denote,
