138 THE ALUMNI JOURNAL 



and barium dioxide in the presence of water, the same agents which 

 are used to-day for the manufacture of peroxide. 



Peroxide of hydrogen is said to occur in minute quantities and 

 may be formed in the presence of water, by the oxidation of such 

 substances as bismuth, cadmium, copper, phosphorous, zinc, tin, 

 turpentine and some few essential oils. It has been pointed out 

 that it is produced in certain metabolic processes of chlorophyll-bear- 

 ing plants. For many years after its discovery, peroxide of hydrogen 

 was considered a chemical curiosity, and it was not until the year 

 1856 that its value as a medicinal agent was presented to the world by 

 B. W. Richardson, who found it to be a valuable remedial agent. 



Regnault, Staedel and Kennedy were other experimenters who 

 succeeded in producing peroxide in a more or less pure state. Passing 

 over the only partially successful efforts of some of the best known 

 chemists to produce a successful marketable solution, let us observe 

 the patience and persevering efforts of the first really successful manu- 

 facturer in America. This man became deeply interested in the 

 chemical possibilities of this article and knowing that if a permanent 

 and stable product could be produced a fortune awaited him, he 

 worked for more than two years before he was able to manufacture 

 the first successful quantity to offer the public. In all his experiments 

 he worked along the lines of the first discoverer, using barium peroxide 

 and dilute acids. Beginning with very small quantities and shaking 

 the acids and barium together with water in a loosely stoppered bottle, 

 he obtained sufficient encouragement to warrant his operating upon 

 larger quantities in a wooden tub made from an old wine barrel. 

 In this experiment lumps of ice were always kept in the mixture 

 and the whole agitated with a wooden paddle. Attempt after attempt 

 failed to bring the mixture up to the requisite strength and permanency. 

 The reaction progressing rather slowly, each trial occupied the better 

 part of a day and, while this patient experimenter often worked 

 until a late hour at night, the batch had to be left to settle until 

 morning before the actual result could be obtained. 



It is recorded by friends of this man that he became fascinated 

 with the work he had undertaken. He scarcely took time to eat 

 or sleep. (Each morning after the previous day's effort, at an early 

 hour he would seek the place of his operations and with a shaking 

 hand insert the key in the lock of the outside door. One glance in 



