LITHIUM IN THE BARIUM STARS

Analysis of high-resolution (lambda/DELTAlambda = 150,000) spectra of classical barium giants reveals that an unidentified line is a major c ontributor to the stellar-absorption feature at 6707.8 angstrom attrib uted previously to a blend of CN lines and the Li I resonance doublet. The strength of the unidentified line is well correlated with the str ength of a Ce II line. In contrast to published reports of positive id entifications of absorption due to the Li I doublet, an acceptable fit of a synthetic spectrum to the observed spectrum of a barium giant is obtainable without a significant contribution from the Li I doublet. Upper limits to the Li abundance of classical barium giants are now co nsistent with those expected if CH subgiants evolve into barium giants .