On the Concentration of Metastable Mercury Atoms

The concentration of metastable atoms in presence of 3 mm nitrogen obtained using the measurements of Stuart seems to be in contradiction with a calculation given here using observations of Wood. The contradiction disappears if the different statistical weights of the levels $2{}_{}{}^3{}_{}{}^{}P_1^{}{}_{}{}^{}$ and $2{}_{}{}^3{}_{}{}^{}P_0^{}{}_{}{}^{}$ are taken in account. Corrected curves for the number of metastable atoms as functions of the foreign gas pressure are given for CO, ${\mathrm{H}}_2$O, ${\mathrm{N}}_2$, A and He which are to replace the corresponding curves of the previous paper. It is shown that the assumption of the author that by high primary light intensities the number of metastable atoms increases only with the square root of the intensity is strikingly supported by measurements of Wood.