Radiation of Heat hy Gascons Matter. 849 



§ 11. All the results here recorded had been obtained, when, 

 turning to Pe la Rivers excellent treatise on Electricity, I found 

 an allusion to the experiments of M. Meidinger on ozone. ] had 

 never previously heard any allusion made to this investigation, 

 and was gratified to find in it the record of a very interesting- 

 piece of work. 



M. Meidinger commences by showing the absence of agree- 

 ment between theory and experiment in the decomposition of 

 water, the difference showing itself very decidedly in a deficiency 

 of oxygen when the current was strong. On heating his electro- 

 lyte, he found that this difference disappeared, the proper quan- 

 tity of oxygen being liberated. He at once surmised that, the 

 defect of oxygen might be due to the formation of ozone ; but 

 in what way, was still to be determined. If it were due to the 

 great density of ozone in the tube which received the oxygen, the 

 destruction of this substance by heat would restore the oxygen to 

 its true volume. Strong heating, however, which destroyed the 

 ozone, showed in repeated measurements no alteration of volume, 

 hence M. Meidinger concluded that the defect which he had 

 observed was not due to the ozone mixed with the oxygen itself. 

 He finally concluded, and justified his conclusion by satisfac- 

 tory experiments, that the loss of oxygen was caused by the for- 

 mation of peroxide of hydrogen, which was dissolved in the liquid 

 and thus withdrawn from the electrolytic gas. He was further 

 led to experiment with electrodes of different sizes, and found 

 the loss of oxygen much more considerable when a small elec- 

 trode was used than with a large one, whence he inferred that 

 the formation of ozone was facilitated by augmenting the density of 

 the current at the place where electrode and electrolyte meet. 

 Nothing could be more different from the method pursued by 

 M. Meidinger than that by which I arrived at the same conclu- 

 sion ; and though I had no doubt of the accuracy of my experi- 

 ments, it was pleasant to find them corroborated in such a remark- 

 able and unexpected way. I may add that since the perusal of 

 M. Meidinger's paper I have repeated his experiments with my 

 decomposition-cells, and find that those which gave me the 

 greatest absorption also show the greatest deficiency in the 

 amount of oxygen liberated*. 



The quantities of ozone with which I have operated must be 

 perfectly immeasurable by ordinary means. The action of the 

 substance is like that of olefiant gas, or boracic ether; bulk for 

 bulk it might transcend either. No elementary gas that I have 

 examined behaves at all like ozone. In its swing through the ether 

 it must powerfully disturb the medium. If it be oxygen, it must 



* I have recently learned that M. de la Rive was the first to observe 

 the influence of the size of the electrodes en the development of ozone. 



