4 ] 4 Proceedings of the Boyal Society 
general as a reducing agent. Thus mercury and silver are con- 
verted by ozone into oxides. These oxides are reduced to the 
metallic state by peroxide of hydrogen. 
A piece of paper moistened with sulphate of manganese is turned 
brown by ozone, owing to the formation of peroxide of manganese. 
The peroxide of manganese thus formed is reduced by peroxide of 
hydrogen to the state of protoxide. Similarly, by the action of 
ozone on suhacetate of lead paper, peroxide of lead is formed, which 
is again reduced to protoxide of lead by peroxide of hydrogen. 
Peroxide of barium is produced by the action of peroxide of 
hydrogen on hydrated protoxide of barium. Peroxide of barium is 
on the contrary reduced by ozone to oxide of barium ; the ferro- 
cyanide of potassium is converted by ozone into ferricyanide, which 
latter is again reduced by peroxide of hydrogen. 
This opposition in the characters of ozone and peroxide of hydro- 
gen, indicated by their action on other compounds, is maintained 
in their action on each other. Though peroxide of hydrogen and 
ozone are both powerful oxidising agents, by their action on each 
other two neutral substances are produced, water and ordinary oxygen. 
These characters naturally suggest the idea that ozone and peroxide 
of hydrogen are related to each other, much in the same way as 
acids and bases, which, though both possessed of decided characters, 
mutually neutralise each other. In other words, that the characters 
of ozone and peroxide of hydrogen bear to each other that relation 
which is indicated by the words electro-negative and electro-posi- 
tive ; a conclusion remarkably confirmed by the production of ozone 
^during the electrolysis of an acid liquid at the positive pole, and of 
peroxide of hydrogen at the negative pole, as shown by Meidinger, 
thus showing that ozone is to be regarded as an electro-negative 
compound, and peroxide of hydrogen as an electro-positive com- 
pound. And as ozone and peroxide of hydrogen neutralise each 
other, so to speak, we are led to suppose that they are each formed 
by the combination of the same number of molecules. We are 
thus led to assign to ozone the formula 000 (0 = 16) as suggested 
by the equation 
