Bouty calls its dielectric cohesion. We
leave on one side this phenomenon, regarding which M. Bouty has
arrived at extremely important results by a very remarkable series of
experiments; but this question rightly belongs to a special study of
electrical phenomena which is not yet written.]
Let us therefore recognise with J.J. Thomson and the many physicists
who, in his wake, have taken up and developed the idea of Giese, that,
under the influence of the X rays, for reasons which will have to be
determined later, certain gaseous molecules have become divided into
two portions, the one positively and the other negatively electrified,
which we will call, by analogy with the kindred phenomenon in
electrolysis, by the name of ions. If the gas be then placed in an
electric field, produced, for instance, by two metallic plates
connected with the two poles of a battery respectively, the positive
ions will travel towards the plate connected with the negative pole,
and the negative ions in the contrary direction. There is thus
produced a current due to the transport to the electrodes of the
charges which existed on the ions.
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