One funnel of yttrium contains exactly the same number of atoms as is contained in a gaseous atom of nitrogen. Further, a, b, and d are all nitrogen elements. We put on record these facts, without trying to draw any conclusions from them. Some day, we—or others—may find out their significance, and trace through them obscure relations.
YTTRIUM: 6 funnels of 261 atoms 1566
Central globe 40
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Total 1606
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Atomic weight 88.34
Number weight 1606/18 89.22
The corresponding negative group, of nitrogen, vanadium and niobium, is rendered particularly interesting by the fact that it is headed by nitrogen, which—like the air, of which it forms so large a part—pervades so many of the bodies we are studying. What is there in nitrogen which renders it so inert as to conveniently dilute the fiery oxygen and make it breathable, while it is so extraordinarily active in some of its compounds that it enters into the most powerful explosives? Some chemist of the future, perhaps, will find the secret in the arrangement of its constituent parts, which we are able only to describe.
Nitrogen
(
, 1) does not assume the cubical form of its relatives, but is in shape like an egg. Referring again to our 1895 investigations, I quote from them. The balloon-shaped body (see 4
a