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Page 11
[Illustration]
This is to be read, following the lines of the "figures of eight": H, He,
Li, Gl, B, C, N, and so on, each successive element being heavier than the
one preceding it in order. The disks which fall immediately below each
other form a class; thus: H, Cl, Br, I; these resemble each other in
various ways, and, as we shall presently see, the same forms and groupings
re-appear.
Another chart--taken from Erdmann's _Lehrbuch_--arranges the elements on a
curved line, which curiously resembles the curves within the shell of a
nautilus. The radiating lines show the classes, the whole diameter building
up a family; it will be observed that there is an empty radius between
hydrogen and helium, and we have placed occultum there; on the opposite
radius, iron, rubidium and osmium are seen.
[Illustration]
The external forms may be classified as follows; the internal details will
be dealt with later :--
[Illustration: PLATE III.]
1. _The Dumb-bell._--The characteristics of this are a higher and lower
group, each showing 12 projecting funnels, grouped round a central body,
and a connecting rod. It appears in sodium, copper, silver, and gold,[17]
and gold is given (1 on Plate III) as the most extremely modified example
of this form. The 12 almond-like projections, above and below, are
severally contained in shadowy funnels, impossible to reproduce in the
drawing; the central globe contains three globes, and the connecting
portion has swollen out into an egg, with a very complicated central
arrangement. The dumb-bell appears also in chlorine, bromine and iodine,
but there is no trace of it in hydrogen, the head of the group. We have not
met it elsewhere. It may be remarked that, in Sir William Crookes' scheme,
in which they are all classed as monads, these two groups are the nearest
to the neutral line, on the ingoing and outgoing series, and are
respectively positive and negative.
II and IIa. _The Tetrahedron._--The characteristics of this form are four
funnels, containing ovoid bodies, opening on the face of a tetrahedron. The
funnels generally, but not always, radiate from a central globe. We give
beryllium (glucinum) as the simplest example (2 on Plate III), and to this
group belong calcium and strontium. The tetrahedron is the form of chromium
and molybdenum, but not that of the head of their group, oxygen, which is,
like hydrogen, _sui generis_. These two groups are marked in orthodox
chemistry as respectively positive and negative, and are closely allied.
Another pair of groups show the same tetrahedral form: magnesium, zinc and
cadmium, positive; sulphur, selenium and tellurium, negative. Selenium is a
peculiarly beautiful element, with a star floating across the mouth of each
funnel; this star is extremely sensitive to light, and its rays tremble
violently and bend if a beam of light falls on it. All these are dyads.
The tetrahedron is not confined to the external form of the above atoms; it
seems to be one of the favourite forms of nature, and repeatedly appears in
the internal arrangements. There is one tetrahedron within the unknown
element occultum; two appear in helium (3 on Plate III); yttrium has also
two within its cube, as has germanium; five, intersecting, are found in
neon, meta-neon, argon, metargon, krypton, meta-krypton, xenon, meta-xenon,
kalon, meta-kalon, tin, titanium and zirconium. Gold contains no less than
twenty tetrahedra.
III. _The Cube._--The cube appears to be the form of triads. It has six
funnels, containing ovoids, and opening on the faces of the cube. Boron is
chosen as an example (4 on Plate III). Its group members, scandium and
yttrium, have the same form; we have not examined the fourth; the group is
positive. Its negative complement consists of nitrogen, vanadium and
niobium, and we have again to note that nitrogen, like hydrogen and oxygen,
departs from its group type. Two other triad groups, the positive
aluminium, gallium and indium (the fourth unexamined) and the negative
phosphorus, arsenic and antimony (the fourth unexamined), have also six
funnels opening on the faces of a cube.
IV. _The Octahedron._--The simplest example of this is carbon (5 on Plate
III). We have again the funnel with its ovoids, but now there are eight
funnels opening on the eight faces of the octahedron. In titanium (6 on
Plate III) the form is masked by the protruding arms, which give the
appearance of the old Rosicrucian Cross and Rose, but when we look into the
details later, the carbon type comes out clearly. Zirconium is exactly like
titanium in form, but contains a large number of atoms. We did not examine
the remaining two members of this group. The group is tetratomic and
positive. Its negative pendant shows the same form in silicon, germanium
and tin; again, the fourth was unexamined.
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