VII. The theory of the “Schrot-effect”

Abstract

Attention is drawn to a general proposition relating the fluctuations in any fortuitous phenomenon and those in an instrument by which it is observed. Use of it would avoid the elaborate calculations upon which the study of the schort effect has been based hitherto, and enable the observations to be interpreted much more directly in terms of measurements. The results obtained by Hull and Williams with secondary emission are discussed; it is shown that conclusions other than those that they draw are not excluded.