MIDSUMMER PAPERS. S7 



requesting the inquirers to beware, for there was certainly a measure of huni- 

 buo," in the announconiont ; and just how much would certainly appear after a 

 short time. Early in tiiis year a paper was received upon this very subject, 

 prepared by Prof. R. B. Warder of Cincinnati, Ohio, and read before the Oliio 

 Mechanics' Institute. Upon request several copies were sent for distribution 

 in our State. In order, however, to brins: it before our horticulturists in every 

 part of Miciiigan, tliat tlie facts concerning tliis antiseptic may become theirs, 

 it is inserted in our volume for 188"-3. 



The following is the complete text of tlio paper : 



The attention of the Institute has already been called to tlie claims of the 

 "Prentiss Preserving Company," and to their exliibit of meats, fruit>;, etc., 

 which were said to be preserved by the antiseptic action of ozone. While it 

 is not the purpose of the author either to recommend or to decry any partic- 

 ular business, some reference to the advertisers of ozone is unavoidable. The 

 claims of the company arc briefly expressed in tiie following words from tlieir 

 advertisement : " Ozone — a new process for preserving all perishable articles, 

 auiinal and vegetable, from fermentation and putrefaction, retaining their 

 odor and flavor." "Tliis preservative * * * * is simply and purely 

 Ozone.'" The material sold is a dark powder, v/hich is put up in packages of 

 about one pound each. This substance is burned in an air-tight chamber, in 

 which the articles to be preserved are placed. The gas formed by combustion 

 is the real antiseptic, which is called ozone, but the same name is applied also 

 to the original powder. Tlie visitor who inspects the eggs and meats exhibited 

 by the Prentiss Preserving Company is readily persuaded that they use a real 

 antiseptic, and that their claims are at least partly true. The chemist who is 

 asked to believe that ozone is produced so cheaply must feel that his credulity 

 is severely taxed. 



The first inquiry which reached me was from Mr. H. C. Freeman, of Illinois, 

 whose habits of practical observation led him to believe that the powder con- 

 sists of sulphur disguised with charcoal aud cinnamon. Dr. E. Osmond, of 

 this city, had reached nearly the same conclusion; and he compares the i'l'en- 

 tiss method with ''Shourd's Nev/ Dominion Process" (said to have been pat- 

 ented in Ontario Nov. 9, 1868), which depcuds simply on the fumes of burn- 

 ing sulphur. My own examination led to the following results: The so-called 

 "ozone" is a powder, nearly black, perfectly dry and tasteless, but with a 

 very distinct odor of cinnamon. It contains numerous light brown particles 

 (under -^ millimeter long), which seemed to bo ground cinnamon bark. The 

 powder burns with a blue flame, emitting pungeut fumes (which constitute the 

 real antiseptic agent), and leaving black crusts, which also can be consumed 

 by the aid of sufficient heat. It repels moisture and is not readily wetted. 



This substance consists essentially of sulphur and carbon. The percentage 

 of the former constituent was estimated by oxidation with nitric acid and po- 

 tassium chlorate, evaporation with hydrochloric acid, and precii)itation with 

 barium chloride. The fixed carbon v,-as e-timated approximately by coking in 

 a porcelain boat, within a closed tube, and deducting the ash and the traces of 

 sulphur which remuined in the boat. Actual combustion of the carbon was 

 thus prevented, as tiie air was quickly driven out by sulphur vapor; but there 

 may have been a small loss of carbon as sulj^hide. Traces of bituminous mat- 

 ter appeared to be driven out with tlic sulpliur, making black stains on the 

 walls of the tube. The moisture was estimated by heating at 100° Centigrade 

 to constant weight. 



