that the radiation is a specific property of the substance. J. J. Thomson[1] has made experiments to observe the action of different substances in cutting off the external very penetrating radiation (section 279) observed by Cooke and McLennan. He found that some substances cut off this external radiation, while others had little if any effect. For example, the ionization in a closed vessel was reduced 17 per cent. by surrounding it with a thick lead envelope; but, on surrounding it with an equivalent absorbing thickness of water, or water mixed with sand, no sensible diminution was observed. In other experiments Wood[2] found that the diminution of the ionization by a given screen depended upon the material of the vessel. For example, the ionization in a lead vessel, surrounded by a lead screen, was reduced 10 per cent., while in an iron vessel it was reduced 24 per cent. He concludes from his experiments that the ionization observed in a closed vessel has a threefold origin. Part of it is due to an external penetrating radiation, part to a secondary radiation set up by it, while the remainder is due to an intrinsic radiation from the walls, altogether independent of the external radiation.
In some experiments of Campbell[3], the variation of the ionization current between two parallel plates was observed for a progressive increase of the distance between them. The effects observed are shown in Fig. 105. The curves at first rise rapidly, then bend over and finally become a straight line. The knee of the curve is at a different distance for the different substances. The shape of these curves indicates that two types of radiation are present, one of which is readily absorbed in the gas while the other, a more penetrating type of radiation, extends over the whole distance between the plates. In another series of experiments, one side of the testing vessel was of thin aluminium, and the ionization current was observed when an exterior screen was brought up to it. Lead gave a considerable increase, but the radiation from it was readily absorbed by an interposed screen. The radiation emitted by carbon and zinc was more than twice as penetrating as from lead.
