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177
The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry
·
M. M. Pattison Muir
152
The
results
of
analysis
by
the
spectroscope
of
the
light
emitted
by
certain
elements
at
different
temperatures
may
be
reasonably
interpreted
by
supposing
that
these
elements
are
separated
into
simpler
substances
by
the
action
on
them
of
very
large
quantities
of
thermal
energy.
The
spectrum
of
the
light
emitted
by
glowing
iron
heated
by
a
Bunsen
flame
(say,
at
1200°
C.
=
about
2200°
F.)
shows
a
few
lines
and
flutings;
when
iron
is
heated
in
an
electric
arc
(say,
to
3500°
C.
=
about
6300°
F.)
the
spectrum
shows
some
two
thousand
lines;
at
the
higher
temperature
produced
by
the
electric
spark-discharge,
the
spectrum
shows
only
a
few
lines.
As
a
guide
to
further
investigation,
we
may
provisionally
infer
from
these
facts
that
iron
is
changed
at
very
high
temperatures
into
substances
simpler
than
itself.
Sir
Norman
Lockyer's
study
of
the
spectra
of
the
light
from
stars
has
shown
that
the
light
from
those
stars
which
are
presumably
the
hottest,
judging
by
the
general
character
of
their
spectra,
reveals
the
presence
of
a
very
small
number
of
chemical
elements;
and
that
the
number
of
spectral
lines,
and,
therefore,
the
number
of
elements,
increases
as
we
pass
from
the
hottest
to
cooler
stars.
At
each
stage
of
the
change
from
the
hottest
to
cooler
stars
certain
substances
disappear
and
certain
other
substances
take
their
places.
It
may
be
supposed,
as
a
suggestive
hypothesis,
that
the
lowering
of
stellar
temperature
is
accompanied
by
the
formation,
from
simpler
forms
of
matter,
of
such
elements
as
iron,
calcium,
manganese,
and
other
metals.
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