SECT. i. OZONE AND ANTOZONE. 9 



Since both, kinds of ozone are produced during the 

 decomposition of water by electricity, and as sea air is 

 always found to contain more or less free ozone, the 

 ocean is probably an antozonide, for all the antozone 

 formed by electricity during thunderstorms must be 

 either dissolved in the sea-water, or carried into it in 

 the form of peroxide of hydrogen by the rain. Ozone 

 must be exceedingly abundant in the zone of calms and 

 light breezes near the equator known as the variables, 

 which is subject to heavy rains and violent thunder- 

 storms, and also in the regions of the monsoons. On 

 land one of the benefits arising from these formidable 

 phenomena is the production of ozone, which oxidizes 

 decomposing organic matter and hastens its decay, 

 while the antozone, which is dissolved in the atmo- 

 spheric vapour, forms the peroxide of hydrogen and frees 

 the air from the antagonist principle. 



The peroxide of hydrogen thus produced is a trans- 

 parent colourless inodorous liquid with a metallic taste, 

 and contains one equivalent of hydrogen and two of 

 oxygen. It retains its liquid state under a great degree 

 of cold, and mixes with water in any proportion. It 

 has a strong bleaching property, instantly destroying 

 vegetable colour. If exposed suddenly to a temperature 

 of boiling water it is decomposed with violent explosion, 

 and readily gives off oxygen at 59 Fahr. The mere 

 touch of an oxidized metal, as the oxide of silver, com- 

 pletely and instantaneously decomposes it, and oxygen 

 gas is evolved by the union of the ozone and antozone 

 so rapidly as to produce a kind of explosion attended by 

 an intense evolution of heat. 



During the combustion of phosphorus in the at- 

 mosphere both kinds of ozone appear, and Professor 

 Schonbein considers the slow combustion of that sub- 

 stance, which unites with the ozone and sets the ant- 

 ozone free, as the type of all the slow oxidations which 



