XXIII.—On the Discharge of a Condenser through a Gas at Low Pressure

Extract

As is well known, when the conducting surfaces of a charged condenser are in connection with the electrodes of a discharge tube at low pressure, the discharge of the condenser through the tube may take one or other of two forms; it may be of the continuous type or it may pass as a sudden flash, the most noticeable feature of which, as has been pointed out, is the absence of the definite structure usually regarded as normal in a low-pressure discharge.