Abstract
WE are all so much entertained by Prof. H. E. Armstrong's broadside attacks that those of us who happen to come within his range must not complain; but I feel that I must protest against his criticism (NATURE, April 17, p. 553) of the beautiful experiment of Bardwell which proved that hydrogen is an anion in metallic hydrides (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 44, 2499 (1922)). If Prof. Armstrong would read carefully Dr. Bardwell's paper he would see what pains were taken to separate the anode and cathode chambers, and since hydrogen was evolved quantitatively at the anode it could scarcely be due to liberated alkali metal unless this also were set free at the anode—which even a thorough-going opponent of physical chemistry would scarcely assume. This being so, it is perhaps unnecessary to mention the bald chemical fact that the alkali metals do not in any case react with metallic hydrides to set free hydrogen.
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LEWIS, G. Hydrogen as Anion. Nature 117, 824 (1926). https://doi.org/10.1038/117824c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/117824c0
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