Referee's report by William Cecil Dampier Whetham, on a paper 'The diffusion of salts in aqueous solution' by J C Graham

Description

Sectional Committee: Physics and Chemistry

Not recommended for publication in Philosophical Transactions. If the author carried the experiments further and obtained results for a number of substances, the method is good enough as a foundation for a paper in the Transactions. It might be published in Proceedings' as a preliminary account of the method et cetera. The application of Fourier's analysis to the case of diffusion is well known and the author's exposition of it shows 'no originality'. The paper's mathematical appendix might be shortened and placed at the beginning of the paper. Regarding illustrations, sheet seven might be omitted, and all the colours replaced by other means of distinction. The diagrams may all be significantly reduced in size. The method is the same as that used by Scheffer but considerable improvements have been introduced. If means were adopted to keep the temperature constant, the method is probably capable of yielding results more accurate than any hitherto obtained without the use of solid jelly solutions. Provides six additional points of criticism on a separate sheet of manuscript notes.

[Published in Proceedings of the Royal Society, 1903].

Endorsed on verso as received 10 June 1903.

Reference number

RR/16/59

Earliest possible date

June 1903

Physical description

Standardised form (type A) and letter on paper

Page extent

3 pages

Format

Manuscript