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The Physiological Influence of Ozone. 

 By Leonard Hill, F.E.S., and Martin Flack. 



(Received July 6, — Eead December 7, 1911./ 

 (From the Laboratory of the London Hospital Medical College.) 



Ozone has been extolled as the active health-giving agent in mountain and 

 sea air, its virtues have been vaunted as a therapeutic agent, until these have,, 

 by mere reiteration, become part and parcel of common belief ; and yet exact 

 physiological evidence in favour of its good effects has been hitherto almost 

 entirely wanting. Ozone has been found occasionally in traces in the 

 atmosphere, it has been proved to have active oxidising properties, and on 

 these facts the superstructure of its therapy has been reared. 



Popular attention has been fixed on the mysterious and the unknown, and 

 has neglected the prepotent power of cold wind and sunlight to influence the- 

 nervous health and metabolism of man. The only thoroughly well-ascertained 

 knowledge concerning the physiological effect of ozone, so far attained, is that 

 it causes irritation and oedema of the lungs, and death if inhaled in 

 relatively strong concentration for any time, e.g., - 05 per cent., death in 

 two hours (Schwarzenbach) ; 1 per cent, in one hour (Barlow). 



A. Loewy and N. Zuntz* write that " the physiological foundations of an 

 ozone-therapy can scarcely be discussed, so little is the extent of our exact 

 knowledge on this subject." The old idea, that ozone passing into the blood 

 acts as an oxidising agent there, thus destroying " organised " and 

 " unorganised " poisons, was exploded by Priiiger,-f who pointed out that 

 ozone is immediately destroyed on contact with blood ; even if it were 

 not, there is no reason why it should oxidise toxins rather than normal 

 constituents of the blood. 



C. Binz; observed that " animals submitted to ozone became quiet and 

 appeared to sleep." W. Sigmund§ also noted this effect in white mice, gold 

 fish, and insects. He considered that ozone is not a very dangerous 

 substance, for even small animals could bear for a time a relatively large 

 amount without serious effect war-unblooded..., animals were the more- 

 sensitive. 



* ' Handbuch der Sauerstofftherapie,' Michaelis, Berlin, 1906, p. 61. 



t ' Pfluger's Archiv,' vol. 10, p. 251. 



% ' Berl. Klin. Wochensch.,' 1882, Nos. 1, 2, 43. 



§ ' Cent. f. Bakter.,' (II), 1905, vol. 14, p. 635. 



