[ 440 ] 

 LX. On the Connexion of Catalytic Phanomena with Allotropy. 



By C. S. SCHONBEIN. 

 [Concluded from p. 261.] 



THE property of changing into is not, however, confined 

 exclusively to inorganic substances ; for according to my 

 more recent experiments, a number of organic substances act the 

 part of exciters of oxygen and carriers of 0. Among these I may 

 especially mention the camphene oils, of which oil of turpentine 

 may be taken as the type. With reference to this oil, my ex- 

 periments have shown that it takes up oxygen even in the cold, 

 proportionally more rapidly under the influence of sunlight, and 

 much more slowly in the dark. But this oxygen associated 

 with the oil does not immediately produce true oxidizing actions, 

 as is evident from the fact that it may be again transferred to a 

 variety of inorganic and organic oxidizable substances ; that is, 

 the oil of turpentine charged with oxygen comports itself as a 

 powerfully oxidizing agent. It separates, for instance, iodine 

 from iodide of potassium, converts sulphurous acid instanta- 

 neously into sulphuric acid ; oxidizes phosphorus first to PO^, 

 then to PO^ protosalts of iron to persalts, indigo-blue dissolved 

 in sulphuric acid to isatine, &c. ; — all of them, it will be seen, 

 oxidizing actions perfectly similar to those which oxygen pro- 

 duces when it has been allotropized by electricity or phosphorus. 



We may therefore ascribe to oil of turpentine, as to phosphorus, 

 binoxide of nitrogen, &c., the property of allotropizing common 

 oxygen. And since this oil, after it has been deprived of its 

 by oxidizable substances, can again take up fresh oxygen, and can 

 convert this into the O condition, we may compare it more espe- 

 cially with binoxide of nitrogen, and may consider it, like that 

 body, as an exciter of oxygen and carrier of O. 



1 will here take the opportunity of remarking, that I have 

 succeeded in obtaining in the past winter an oil of turpentine 

 which contained more than 2 per cent, of ozonized oxygen, as 

 is evident from the fact that a gramme of it was able to decompose 

 220grms. of mynormal tincture of indigo, which had such a stand- 

 ard that 10 grms. of it were decolorized by 1 milligramme of 0. 



This oxygen does not, however, even in the cold comport itself 

 quite indiff'erently towards the constituents of the oil of turpen- 

 tine ; it gradually oxidizes this liquid, and hence the formation 

 of resin, watci-, carbonic acid, &c. This action takes place the 

 more rapidly the higher the temperature of the oil containing O, 

 whence it arises that oil of turpentine may be more strongly 

 charged with in winter than is possible during summer; 

 although, all other circumstances, insulation, &c. being equal, the 

 ozonization of common oxygen occurs much more rapidly wheia 



