Paper, 'Remarks on the atomic weight of beryllium' by W N [Walter Noel] Hartley

Description

Hartley writes: 'In a reply to a note by Professor Emerson Reynolds “On the Atomic Weight of Glucinum or Beryllium,” presented to the Royal Society by Dr Frankland on June 7th, 1883 [see PP/3/33], Dr Humpidge has made some critical observations concerning evidence which I adduced in favour of the value 9 or 9.2. I did not consider that these remarks called for notice at the time, as they were beside the question immediately under discussion, namely, the experimental determination of the atomic heat of the metal, but from the fact that they have been abstracted for various journals, and that greater prominence has been given to them than was perhaps originally intended by the author, I beg to be allowed to comment upon them, as my opinions have been entirely misrepresented. Dr Humpidge states in allusion to me: “This chemist concludes from his experiments that glucinum is a dyad metal, and that its homologues are calcium, strontium, and barium, elements with which it has not the slightest analogy.” From this sentence it appears probable that Dr Humpidge was not fully acquainted with the nature of the evidence advanced, which, how­ever, might be excusable, since though the two papers in which it was contained were read at the meetings of the Chemical Society, that “On Homologous Spectra” on March 15th, and that “On the Spectrum of Beryllium” on April 19th, they were not published in the Journal in time for him to have consulted them. The statement quoted above is precisely my argument. “The spectrum of beryllium exhibits no marked analogy with the calcium, the magnesium, or the aluminium spectra, all of which are members of well-defined homologous series.”'

Annotations in pencil and ink.

Subject: Chemistry

Received 19 March 1884. Read 27 March 1884. Communicated by George Gabriel Stokes.

A version of this paper was published in volume 36 of the Proceedings of the Royal Society as 'Remarks on the atomic weight of beryllium'.

Reference number

PP/4/41

Earliest possible date

1884

Physical description

Ink and graphite pencil on paper

Page extent

6 pages

Format

Manuscript