But now the facts
and principles brought to light in connection with the studies of
radioactivity have settled it that we actually do have a much smaller
unit than the hydrogen atom, one of only about 1/1760 its mass, in fact;
and that this smallest of the small things of nature is none other than
a particle of negative electricity, now called an _electron_.
That the atoms of all the elements must have a common unit of
composition, that they behave as if composed of ultimate particles that
may be regarded as duplicates of one another, has long been regarded as
an inevitable conclusion from the Periodic Law of Mendeleef. This law
says that the physical as well as the chemical properties of the various
elements depend upon their atomic weights, or as it is stated in the
language of mathematics, the properties of an element are functions of
its atomic weight. This fact of the variation in the properties of
elements in accord with their atomic weights has been even more
strikingly illustrated by the behavior of discharges of electricity
through rarified gases, as well as by the facts of radioactivity. To
quote the words of Sir J.J. Thompson, "The transparency of bodies to
Roentgen rays, to cathode rays, to the rays emitted by radioactive
substances, the quality of the secondary radiation emitted by the
different elements, are all determined by the atomic weight of the
element.
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