Proceedmgs of the British Association. 45 



some substance produced or evolved by it ; because if the point 

 be moistened, the electricity still continues to be given off as a 

 brush, but the power of polarizing the gold or platinum plates is 

 lost. A plate thus charged, is perfectly similar in its electrical 

 powers to a plate charged or polarized by immersion in oxygen 

 impregnated with ozone. Heat or exposure to hydrogen, which 

 destroys or inverts the electricity of such a plate, exerts a pre- 

 cisely similar action on plates polarized by exposure to the brush ; 

 and likewise, if the plates are not perfectly clean and dry, it is 

 equally impossible to charge them, either by exposure to the 

 brush, or by immersion in oxygen containing ozone. He sup- 

 poses that there exists, both in the air and. water, a very minute 

 quantity of an electrolyte or compound substance, which when 

 decomposed by electricity, evolves, as one of its constituents, the 

 peculiar odorous matter called ozone. He observes, that both 

 from its electromotive power, and likewise from its strong 

 affinity for metals, it is evidently similar to chlorine, bromine, and 

 iodine. Its non-appearance when water is decomposed by elec- 

 trodes of the more oxidizable metals, he attributes to its entering 

 immediately into combination with those metals : and he con- 

 siders that when the solution is heated, the affinity of the ozone 

 for metals is so much increased, that it is even able to combine 

 with gold and platinum, thus accounting for its disappearance 

 when heated. By this theory, all the phenomena attendant on 

 its evolution may be easily explained, and it hence becomes very 

 interesting to search for traces of this widely ditfused substance. 

 M. Schonbein considers that the smell perceived whenever bodies 

 are struck by lightning, is probably due to a small portion of 

 ozone being set free ; and relates a recent case within his own 

 observation, of a church struck by lightning, in which the sur- 

 rounding buildings to a considerable distance were filled with a 

 bluish vapor having a peculiarly pungent odor. Even in this 

 early stage of the inquiry, it will readily be seen that many cu- 

 rious and unexplained phenomena might be accounted for, if the 

 existence of the supposed electrolyte be proved. Mr. S. proposes 

 devoting all his leisure to the prosecution of this inquiry. 



Mr. E. Solly proposed the following mode of bleaching veget- 

 able wax. The wax must be melted, a small quantity of sulphu- 

 ric acid is poured in, composed of one part of oil of vitriol to two 

 of water, and then a few crystals of nitrate of soda stirred in, the 



