units.
FLUORINE (Plate IV, 3, and Plate XVII, 1).
The reversed funnels of fluorine split asunder on the proto level, and are
set free, the "balloons" also floating off independently. The funnels, as
usual, become spheres, and on the meta level set free their contained
bodies, three quartets and a triplet from each of the eight. The balloons
disintegrate in the usual way.
MANGANESE (Plate XVII, 2).
Manganese offers us nothing new, being composed of "lithium spikes" and
"nitrogen balloons."
* * * * *
X.
VI.--THE STAR GROUPS.
We have now reached the last of the groups as arranged on Sir William
Crookes' lemniscates, that forming the "neutral" column; it is headed by
helium, which is _sui generis_. The remainder are in the form of a flat
star (see Plate IV, 4), with a centre formed of five intersecting and
"cigar"-bearing tetrahedra, and six radiating arms. Ten of these have been
observed, five pairs in which the second member differs but slightly from
the first; they are: Neon, Meta-neon; Argon, Metargon; Krypton,
Meta-krypton; Xenon, Meta-xenon; Kalon, Meta-kalon; the last pair and the
meta forms are not yet discovered by chemists. These all show the presence
of a periodic law; taking an arm of the star in each of the five pairs, we
find the number of atoms to be as follows :--
40 99 224 363 489
47 106 231 370 496
It will be observed that the meta form in each case shows seven more atoms
than its fellow.
[Illustration: PLATE XX.]
HELIUM (Plate III, 5, and Plate XX, 1) shows two "cigar"-bearing
tetrahedra, and two hydrogen triangles, the tetrahedra revolving round an
egg-shaped central body, and the triangles spinning on their own axes while
performing a similar revolution. The whole has an attractively airy
appearance, as of a fairy element.
HELIUM: Two tetrahedra of 24 atoms 48
Two triangles of 9 atoms 18
Central egg 6
----
Total 72
----
Atomic weight 3.94
Number weight 72/18 4.00
NEON (Plate XX, 2 and 6) has six arms of the pattern shown in 2, radiating
from the central globe.
NEON: Six arms of 40 atoms 240
Central tetrahedra 120
----
Total 360
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