228 Miscellaneous, 



CHEMICAL SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. 



Schonbein has advanced the opinion that oxygen exists in 

 three states ; — 



1st. As ordinary, comparatively inactive, or nentral oxygen ; 

 2nd. as ozone, negative oxygen, — ; and 3rd. as what he has 

 termed antozone, positive oxygen,-|-0 ; and further that from 

 the mutual action of the two last mentioned modifications of oxy- 

 gen ordinary oxygen proceeds. He supposes that oxygen exists 

 in the form of ozone in the oxides of silver and gold, and in several 

 of the peroxides, as manganese, lead, &c., as well as in some other 

 oxygen compounds; but that it is antozone which unites with 

 protoxides of hydrogen, barium, &c., to form their peroxides. 

 Thus he explains the facts that ozone ehminates inactive oxygen 

 from peroxide of hydrogen, and that oxide of silver and peroxide 

 of hydrogen decompose each other upon contact, suggesting that 

 double decomposition takes place in either case according to the 

 equations. 



J HO, ( + 0) ? + ( — 0) = HO + ( + — 0) = HO + 



I HO, (+0) ^ + ^ Ag (—0) I = HO+Ag f (+0— 0)=HO+Ag+0 



One objection to this hypothesis hitherto has been that anto- 

 zone is as yet merely hypothetical. But Schonbein now an- 

 nounces that he has isolated this form of oxygen by acting upon 

 peroxide of barium with monohydrated sulphuric acid, a gas 

 being liberated which smells like ozone and turns the ozone test- 

 paper blue, but which differs from that substance by its power of 

 forming with water peroxide of hydrogen. He also announces 

 that large quantities of this gas, about jqoo^^' ^^^^^ ready form- 

 ed in a dark blue species of fluor spar found at Wulsendorf and 

 long distinguished by its disagreeable smell. When this substance 

 is triturated under water large quantities of peroxide of hydrogen 

 are immediately formed. In further support of his view he 

 affirms that whenever in the slow oxidation of phosphorous ozone 

 appears, corresponding amounts of peroxide of hydrogen are 

 simultaneously formed ; and that other slowly oxidizing substances, 

 as zinc, have the same power of decomposing, so to say, oxygen 

 into ozone and antozone. His views are worthy of attentive con- 

 sideration, not merely because a class of reactions otherwise inex- 

 plicable is explained, but because of their accordance with certaic 

 views respecting the nature of elementary molecules rendered ne- 



