1868.] SMALLWOOD— ON OZONE. 381 



the force and the direction of the winds, and such like conditions. 



It has been stated that the higher we ascend the greater 

 the amount of Ozone found present in the atmosphere. For many 

 years past observations were taken at the Isle Jesus observatory, 

 with an ozonometer hoisted nearly 80 feet high, but the observa- 

 tions at that altitude yielded no different results from those 

 taken at five feet from the surface of the soil. [I might mention, 

 the height five feet is now considered a standard one for observation ; 

 it is, probably, at that distance, removed far enough, from the 

 earth, to prevent the action of moisture which is emitted at the 

 surface]. At very high altitudes, as it would appear from 

 Glaisher's balloon experiments, a very trifling difference was 

 apparent, much of course depending upon the wind and its direc- 

 tion ; and if it is to be received as a general law that there is 

 always a westerly current of wind in the higher regions of the 

 atmosphere produced by the rotation of the earth on its axis, it is 

 not probable that any great increase in amount would be found, 

 as westerly are not generally known as ozonic winds. 



Captain Jansen, of the Dutch Navy, in a voyage to Australia 

 confirms the assertion as to the ozonic winds, he says: — That in 

 the Northern hemisphere those winds which have a southing in 

 them are more abundant in Ozone, and that in the Southern 

 hemisphere, those winds which have a northing, in them are those 

 more abundant in Ozone ; and he further says : — That the 

 Equatorial calm belts, with their thunder and lightning, constant 

 rain and moisture, may well be said to be its birth-place. 



So far as there is any connection between the amount of Ozone 

 coinciding with the variations in the amount and kind of atmos- 

 pheric electricity, I would beg leave to state, that from some 6000 

 observations taken at the Isle Jesus observatory simultaneously 

 with the various electrometers and other apparatus connected 

 with the investigation of atmospheric electricity, no apparent 

 connection was evident between the amount of Ozone and the 

 changes in the tension and kind of electricity. 



In passing to the next part of the subject — its influence on some 

 epidemics — it might be observed that epidemics generally are 

 said to be generated by miasmata, a term used for designating a 

 highly important class of febrific agents of a gaseous form, which 

 act on the animal system through the medium of the atmosphere. 

 This class of agents is generally divided into two orders : First, 

 infectious — comprehending those febrile effluvia which are 



