1911.] 



The Physiological Influence of Ozone. 



409 



engineer has aimed at giving us in our buildings a uniform summer tem- 

 perature, unchanged by wind or calm, warm sunshine or cold shadow of the 

 clouds. In the House of Commons the air is drawn in from over the 

 Thames, cooled and wetted by a water spray, and carried in at the rate of 

 40,000 to 50,000 feet a minute — a fine bracing current. Before it reaches 

 the House it is warmed by passing over steam radiators, mixed, and passed 

 in a uniform draughtless stream at 63° I\, through the gauze-covered floor 

 of the House. When the division bell rings the current is switched from 

 the House on to the Division lobbies. Hour after hour the same uniformity 

 is maintained, which leads the open-air man to complain that it is too hot, 

 and the old East Indian to revile the cold. The fault lies in the uniformity. 

 When the House is cleared for division, it should be swept, in our opinion, 

 with a current of cool air straight from the water sprays. 



In such conditions of uniformity an ozoniser, just as a cigarette, may 

 relieve the tedium of the nervous system. Ozonised air may help under the 

 depressing conditions which obtain in many shops and factories by varying 

 the stimulation of the nervous system. 



It has been claimed that traces of ozone in the atmosphere, by its 

 oxidising properties, destroy dust, bacteria, noxious gases, and render the air 

 pure. There is no doubt that ozone in the presence of water and in strong 

 concentration is a powerful oxidising agent. It is actually used for the 

 sterilisation of the water supply of certain towns. The ozonised air is 

 thoroughly mixed with the water, and brought into intimate contact with the 

 bacteria. On dry bacteria concentrated ozone has no action (Ohlmuller*). 

 In weak concentrations, such as can be inhaled safely, we found ozone had 

 no sterilising effect when bubbled through moist cultures of Bacillus coli 

 communis. The ozone only acts on the surface, and in weak concentrations 

 cannot be expected to pass through relatively thick layers of wet material. 



Erlandsen and Sehwarz rightly point out that there is no justification for 

 the assertion made by Lubbert that " organic dust, ill-smelling particles and 

 agents of infection cannot exist in the presence of ozone, and that a 

 demonstrable excess of ozone indicates absolute purity of "the air." 



Owing to its powerful bactericidal action when passed through water in 

 high concentrations, it might be thought that inhalation of ozone would be of 

 value in the treatment of infections of the respiratory tract, and such 

 inhalations have been used, e.g., for pulmonary tuberculosis. 



Against the use of all such bactericidal agents in the treatment of 

 pulmonary disease is the fact that the bacilli are growing in the[substance of 



* ' Arbeiten a. d. Kai*. Gesundheitsamte,' vol. 8, p. 229. 



