CHAPTER XIV.
RADIO-ACTIVITY OF THE ATMOSPHERE AND OF ORDINARY MATERIALS.
273. Radio-activity of the atmosphere. The experiments
of Geitel[1] and C. T. R. Wilson[2] in 1900 showed that a positively
or negatively charged conductor placed inside a closed vessel gradually
lost its charge. This loss of charge was shown to be due to a
small ionization of the air inside the vessel. Elster and Geitel
also found that a charged body exposed in the open air lost its
charge rapidly, and that the rate of discharge was dependent
on the locality and on atmospheric conditions. A more detailed
description and discussion of these results will be given later in
section 284.
In the course of these experiments, Geitel observed that the rate of discharge increased slightly for some time after the vessel had been closed. He considered that this might possibly be due to the existence of some radio-active substances in the air, which produced excited activity on the walls of the vessel and so increased the rate of dissipation of the charge. In 1901 Elster and Geitel[3] tried the bold experiment of seeing whether it were possible to extract a radio-active substance from the air. The experiments of the writer had shown that the excited radio-activity from the thorium emanation could be concentrated on the negative electrode in a strong electric field. This result indicated that the carriers of the radio-activity had a positive charge of
