48 Prof. C'lausiiis on the Nature of Ozone. 



the vessel, has lost its electro-positive state, thus becoming more 

 adapted for combination with the phosphorus, yet such com- 

 bination cannot take ])laec until its motions bring it again into 

 the sphere of action of the phosphorus. 



Certain remarkable j)ha?nomena in connexion with ozonifica- 

 tion by means of phosphorus have been observed. Thus, rarefied 

 oxygen is more easily ozonified than denser oxygen, and oxygen 

 mixed with hydrogen or nitrogen is more easily ozonified than 

 when it is in the pure state. I believe that probable, or, at all 

 events, possible explanations may be given for many of these 

 secondary phrenomena. I shall not discuss these, however, in 

 this place. 



The circumstance which was mentioned before as being pro- 

 bable, that, namely, in the combination of two oxygen atoms to 

 a molecule the two atoms have opposite electrical states, may 

 be made use of to explain certain other phpenomena. The fact 

 that the ozone, which is formed in a quantity of oxygen, does not 

 disappear again in a short time of its own accord through the 

 formation of molecules by the recombination of the separated 

 atoms, may perhaps be due to the diminished tendency which 

 such free atoms have to combine, through the loss of their elec- 

 trical condition ; just as oxygen, even when ozonified, may Be 

 mixed with hydrogen without combination resulting. 



When ozonified oxygen is heated, the ozone is destroyed. 

 Tbis may perhaps be explained by supposing that the high tem- 

 perature determines the combination of the separated oxygen 

 atoms, just as it may that of oxygen with hydrogen and other 

 oxidizable bodies. 



Becquerel and Fremyhave shown experimentally that the ozoni- 

 fication of a given quantity of oxygen by electric sparks can only 

 be carried to a certain extent if the ozone remain mixed with 

 the oxygen ; but if the ozone be removed as soon as formed, for 

 instance, by the oxidation of silver, the whole of the oxygen may 

 be gradually converted into ozone. This points to the conclu- 

 sion that if too many separate atoms be contained in the gas, 

 they recombine with one another; and perhaps the electric 

 sparks themselves may have the power of exerting the inverse 

 effect under altered circumstances, that is, they may assist the 

 combination of separated atoms in the same manner as they can 

 determine the combination of oxygen and hydrogen. 



Let us now consider some of the effects of ozone. 



The principal action, namely the strongly oxidizing power, 

 may be considered as self-evident, after the description of ozone 

 given ; for it is clear that separated oxygen atoms can more 

 easily enter into combination with foreign bodies than such as 

 are already combined with one another two and two, and which 



