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one might expect the formation of para-hydrogen as found in the decomposition of hydrogen iodide. Thus the absence of para-hydrogen formation can be regarded as excluding the step (10). Consequently the conclusion offers itself that, whichever the actual primary process may be, ( 7) or (8), the two atoms forming a hydrogen molecule must come from the same parent formaldehyde molecule. The state of affairs in the photolysis of methyl alcohol is exactly analogous.As no detailed knowledge about the energy exchange during collisions in solids is yet available, one cannot decide between the primary reactions ( 7) and ( 8) on the basis of the present experiments. The suggestion that a dissipation of energy takes place at collisions within a solid, as proposed for the reaction + HIso]id, would favor mechanism (7) according to which no such dissipation of energy can occur.