Matter is made up of
electricity and nothing but electricity. Let us see what that leads
to. You are acquainted with Mendeleeff's periodic table?"
He drew forth a huge chart on which all the eighty or so elements were
arranged in eight groups or octaves and twelve series. Selecting one,
he placed his finger on the letters "Au," Under which was written the
number, 197.2. I wondered what the mystic letters and figures meant.
"That," he explained, "is the scientific name for the element gold and
the figure is its atomic weight. You will see," he added, pointing
down the second vertical column on the chart, "that gold belongs to
the hydrogen group--hydrogen, lithium, sodium, potassium, copper,
rubidium, silver, caesium, then two blank spaces for elements yet
to be discovered to science, then gold, and finally another unknown
element."
Running his finger along the eleventh, horizontal series, he
continued: "The gold series--not the group--reads gold, mercury,
thallium, lead, bismuth, and other elements known only to myself. For
the known elements, however, these groups and series are now perfectly
recognized by all scientists; they are determined by the fixed weight
of the atom, and there is a close approximation to regularity.
"This twelfth series is interesting. So far only radium, thorium, and
uranium are generally known. We know that the radioactive elements are
constantly breaking down, and one often hears uranium, for instance,
called the 'parent' of radium.
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