The subject treated in the present volume is one which has had a remarkably rapid growth. I ts wonderful development has taken place within a comparatively few years and consequently up to the present the study of it has been confined almost entirely to the realm of research. The fundamentals of the subject however have now been pretty thoroughly investigated and placed on a somewhat definite working basis and it is felt that it has reached the stage when it may with advantage be introduced, to some extent, into the regular lecture and laboratory courses of the colleges. The investigations in the subject of gaseous ionization in general have increased our knowledge of physical phenomena, especially in connection with electricity, to such a marked degree and have attracted such wide-spread attention that we believe every student of physics ought to have at least some knowledge of the facts in this connection. Since, as far as we know, there did not exist what may be called any regular college textbook on the subject, or manual describing an experimental course, suitable for the less advanced student or undergraduate, the present text-book was undertaken. We therefore hope that it may find a place and fill a growing need in a comparatively new field. Owing to the existing conditions in connection with the subject, the plan of a combined text-book and laboratory manual has been adopted as one which seemed to be most useful to the student in general. Our aim has been to present in simple form the fundamental facts and explanatory theories accompanied, where possible, by the description of suitable experiments to be performed in the laboratory so as to enable the average student to gain a working knowledge of the main facts and principles of the subject without going too much into details, and to form for those wishing to continue the work a basis for more advanc
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)
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