XXVIT 

 OXYGEN GAS FOR ATHLETES AND OTHERS 



SINCE the preceding chapter on ozone was written 

 I have learned that this peculiar triple-condensed 

 variety of oxygen (it is called by chemists "O 3 " 

 whereas ordinary oxygen is " O 2 ") is now being most 

 successfully applied to the purification of the water- 

 supply of several large cities. A notable case is that 

 of the great winter resort, Nice. Ozone gas is one of 

 the most effective destroyers of organic impurity known ; 

 it destroys both bacterial germs and the putrescible 

 impurities of water completely, and is itself converted 

 in the process into harmless health-giving oxygen, whilst 

 the water is rendered absolutely free of all germs. It 

 is readily manufactured by treating oxygen with the 

 electric discharge, and is produced at a cost which 

 renders its use in water-purification an economical and 

 financially satisfactory method. The use of ozone gas 

 as a medicinal application to cavities in the living body 

 in which disease-producing bacteria are lodged is making 

 progress. It has to be administered with great care by 

 a medical expert, and though there has been delay and 

 opposition on account of the novelty of the treatment, 

 there are signs that ozone will become established as a 

 valuable therapeutic agent. It is a singular fact that so 

 little has been done of late by scientific observers either 



