The spectrum of magnesium and of the so-called magnesium hydride, as obtained by spark discharges under reduced pressure

Abstract

In 1878 Liveing and Dewar examined the spark spectrum of magnesium in an atmosphere of hydrogen and noticed a bright line of wave-length about 5210, occasionally accompanied by other fine lines on the more refrangible side. In later papers they remark that this line is only visible in hydrogen or when the C and F lines are also visible, and describe more fully the “two sets of flutings and a pair of fainter bands” which accompany it, and which appear to have been independently discovered by Ciamician. Liveing and Dewar inferred that some compound of the metal and hydrogen was formed, and since the time of their research these lines and flutings have been known provisionally as the “hydride” spectrum. The term will be retained, for convenience, but it must be understood that its correctness is not assumed.