and n is the equilibrium number, then q = αn^2 where α is the constant of recombination (section 30).
By a slight addition to the apparatus of Ebert, Schuster[1] has shown that the constant of recombination for the particular sample of air under investigation can be determined. The value so obtained for air in the neighbourhood of Manchester was variable, and two or three times as great as for dust-free air. The results of some preliminary measurements showed that the number of ions present per c.c. of the air in different localities varied from 2370 to 3660, while the value of q, the number of ions produced per c.c. per second, varied between 12 and 38·5.
Rutherford and Allan and Eberts showed that the ions in the air had about the same mobility as the ions produced in air by Röntgen rays and radio-active substances. In some recent determinations by Mache and Von Schweidler[2], the velocity of the positive ion was found to be about 1·02 cms. per second, and that of the negative 1·25 cms., for a potential gradient of one volt per cm.
Langevin[3] has recently shown that in addition to these swift moving ions, there are also present in the atmosphere some ions which travel extremely slowly in an electric field. The number of these slowly moving ions in the air in Paris is about 40 times as great as the number of the swifter ions. This result is of great importance, for in the apparatus of Ebert these ions escape detection, since the electric field is not strong enough to carry them to the electrodes during the time of their passage between the cylinders.
283. Radio-activity of ordinary materials. It has been
shown that radio-active matter seems to be distributed fairly
uniformly over the surface of the earth and in the atmosphere.
The very important question arises whether the small radio-activity
observed is due to known or unknown radio-elements present in
the earth and atmosphere, or to a feeble radio-activity of matter
in general, which is only readily detectable when large quantities
of matter are present. The experimental evidence is not yet
