•Pl-of. Schoenbein on the Nature ofOkuM, Ml 



the present katte^JfJiseieric^'fenders it rather more ihan pro* 

 bable, that thaf^ ^gedt, powerful as it is in other respects, is in- 

 capable of causing in a direct manner any material change in 

 the chemical bearings of elementary bodied. 



If the conclusion tirawn by the distinguished philosophers of 

 Geneva should Iiaj)pen to be correct, the transformation of 

 common oxygen into Ozone by electrical action would be a 

 case quite unique, and on that very account of the utmost 

 scientific importance. Such a fact would indeed almost imply 

 the possibility of transforming one elementary body into an- 

 other by the agency of electricity, for in many respects ozone 

 differs as materially from oxygen as any two heterogeneous 

 bodies can possibly do. It is true, modern chemistry has made 

 us acquainted with a number of facts which prove that undel' 

 given circumstances the same elementary substance may exist 

 in different conditions. Those peculiar states have, however, 

 as far as I know, not yet been observed in any gaseous ele- 

 mentary body* ; and it is further known that the allotropical 

 modifications of simple bodies have as yet been brought about 

 by the agency of heat only, and in no case by that of electri- 

 city. It is said that chlorine, alter having been exposed to 

 the action of solar light, enjoys the power of combining with 

 hydrogen in the dark, and at the common temperature. Sup- 

 posing Dr. Draper's observation fully correct, the elementary 

 nature of chlorine is not half so certain as that of oxygen ; an^ 

 then we must bear in mind that the modification which chlor 

 rine undergoes under the influence of light is insignificant \\ 

 compared to that which oxygen is said to suffer when exposed 

 to the action of electricity. 



If Ozone be nothing but oxygen modified by electrical influ*! 

 ence, it follows that a given volume of absolutely pure, i. is. 

 anhydrous oxygen, when sufficiently long acted upon by elec- 

 trical sparks, must be entirely transformed into ozone, i. d. 

 changed in such a way as to be readily and completely taken 

 up by a solution of iodide of potassium or of the yellow ferro- 

 cyanide of potassium. An experiment of that kind has not 

 yet been made; but if any chemist succeeds in transforming 

 one cubic inch only of what is called completely dry oxygen 

 into ozone, we must admit the Correctness of the conclusioii 

 of the philosophers of Geneva, extraordinarj' as it may appeal* 

 to us. Before such a decisive result is obtained, I continue 

 to consider ozone as a peculiar peroxide of hydrogen ; and 

 the principal reasons which determine me to maintain that 

 view are the following: — ^1^^ \'^'u^^: ?}^S' !^^'^^\ 



1. Ozone is such a powerfully-smellh^^ stioststiids{>''t!i^t tii*- 

 * See Prof. Draper's paper in the present Number, p. 327.— Ed. 

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