Clifton College Scientific Society. 79 



ward than leeward side of the land, and between February 

 than June than between July and January. (August 29 and 

 September 2, 1859, especially remarkable for large quantity 

 of ozone present.) Schonbein supposes that ozone j)lays an 

 important part in the chemistry of respiration and combus- 

 tion ; the latter can be shown by blowing with a pair of 

 bellows against a Bunsen's gas burner, when the peculiar 

 odour of ozone will be perceived. 



An important function of ozone in nature is the destruc- 

 tion of all noxious organic particles in the aii-, such as are 

 evolved from fevers and other infectious diseases, and from 

 decomposing vegetable and animal matter. These foreign 

 ingredients are reduced by oxidation, by the oxygen, and 

 ozone of the air, successively, to simpler and simpler forms, 

 till converted either into beneficial constituents or innocuous 

 forms of matter. The hydrogen and carbon are respectively 

 reduced to water and carbonic acid (COg), and the nitrogen 

 set free. The carbonic acid is again decomposed by the action 

 of sunlight and vegetable life, the carbon being received into 

 the tissues of the plant while the oxygen is set free. There 

 is reason to suppose that organic matter in process of decay 

 has the power of develoj)ing ozone, which then reacts upon 

 it. Thus is the atmosphere maintained in purity and con- 

 stant composition. The air in its normal condition is said 

 to contain about one ten-thousandth part of ozone. Small 

 as this amount is there is every reason to believe that its 

 functions are of the greatest importance. Ozone may be 

 prepared by many processes ; the following are the most 

 worthy of note : — 



(1) By passing a series of electric sparks from a frictional 

 machine through dry air or oxygen, in the latter case the gas 

 is diminished in volume by about -Yjth. 



(2) By passing the electric brush or disruptive discharge 

 into air or oxygen from a moistened wooden point. 



(3) By the passage of galvanic electricity, Andrews and 

 Tait have (' Phil. Trans.' 1860, p. 117 et seq.) shown that the 

 maximum amount is produced by passing the electricity 

 silently ; by operating upon sealed tubes of pure and dry 

 oxygen they effected a contraction of xs-th, which they found 

 in every case to be the limit, and the passage of the electric 

 sparks caused the gas to expand till it recovered ^ of the 

 contraction, and had reached the point of contraction effected 

 under any circumstances by the passage of sparks. This is 

 caused by the heat of the sparks decomposing the greater 

 part of the ozone produced. 



