constant as before. It thus follows that I_{1} + I_{2} = I_{0}, which is an expression of the above result. The same is also true whatever the law of decay of activity of the separated product (see section 200). For example, the activity of Th X after separation from thorium at first increases with the time. At the same time, the activity of the residual thorium compound at first decreases, and at such a rate that the sum of the activities of the thorium and its separated product is always equal to that of the original thorium.
This apparent constancy of the total radiation follows from the general result that the radio-active processes cannot in any way be changed by the action of known forces. It may be recalled that the constant of decay of the activity of a radio-active product has a definite fixed value under all conditions. It is independent of the concentration of the active matter, of the pressure, and of the nature of the gas in which the substance is placed, and it is not affected by wide ranges of temperature. The only observed exception is the product radium C. Its value of λ increases with temperature to some extent at about 1000° C., but at 1200° C. returns nearly to the normal value. In the same way, it has not been found possible to alter the rate of production of active matter from the radio-elements. In addition, there is not a single well-authenticated case where radio-activity has been altered or destroyed in any active body or created in an inactive element.
Certain cases have been observed, which at first sight seem to indicate a destruction of radio-activity. For example, the excited radio-activity is removed from a platinum wire when heated above a red heat. It has been shown, however, by Miss Gates (section 187) that the radio-activity is not destroyed, but is deposited in unaltered amount on the colder bodies surrounding it. Thorium oxide has been shown to lose to a large extent its power of emanating by ignition to a white heat. But a close examination shows that the emanation is still being produced at the same rate, but is occluded in the compound.
The total radio-activity of a given mass of a radio-element, measured by the peculiar radiations emitted, is a quantity which can neither be increased nor diminished, although it may be manifested in a series of products which are capable of separation from
