We undertook the present diffraction study of the bifluoride ion in sodium acid fluoride and the present refinement of the earlier data on potassium acid fluoride with the hope of obtaining more accurate information not only on the position of the hydrogen atom, but also on the vibrations of the ion. We felt that it would be through the combination of information on the motions of the system from diffraction and spectroscopic studies that the question of the symmetry of the ion could be settled. In this paper we summarize briefly the results of our diffraction study and show that these data, in combination with the spectroscopic data, provide new, and we feel convincing, evidence that the F-H-F ion is linear and symmetric.

A pool of material in steady-state turnover is a collection of identical molecules from which deletions are made at a constant rate, along with simultaneous addition of new identical molecules at the same rate, the total pool size remaining unchanged. It is of interest to consider what may be expected in the way of such pools among the various chemical species which can be isolated from biological systems. It is clear what the model requires, i.e. any molecule belonging to the pool must have as much chance as any other pool molecule to make its exit. This situation is approximated by molecules in solution in a well mixed volume of fluid, hence the choice of the word "pool." The mixing brings pool molecules into proximity with the exit mechanism in a random way.