  The nearby dwarf elliptical galaxy NGC 205 offers a unique opportunity for
high resolution studies of the interstellar medium in an elliptical galaxy.
This paper investigates the distribution of molecular gas, molecular line
ratios, and the relationships between atomic gas, molecular gas, and dust in
NGC 205. The line ratios 12CO(2-1)/(1-0) and 12CO(1-0)/13CO(1-0) in one of the
molecular clouds in NGC 205 are consistent with the ratios found in other
elliptical galaxies and in Galactic giant molecular clouds; they suggest that
the CO in this cloud is probably subthermally excited. Atomic gas, molecular
gas, and dust are very closely associated on scales of 100 pc; the atomic gas
can be understood as photodissociated envelopes around the molecular clouds.
The atomic column densities in this galaxy are quite low (10^20 cm^-2) because
the interstellar UV field is relatively low. The total gas-to-dust column
density ratios are consistent with Galactic gas-to-dust ratios. In short, the
molecular gas in NGC 205 seems to have very similar properties to the familiar
molecular clouds in our own Galaxy, except for the low atomic column densities.
