417 
of Edinburgh, Session 1864 - 65 . 
with water to form peroxide of hydrogen, but not ozone. For, in 
accordance with the electrical theory of chemical action, the fol- 
lowing reaction is perfectly possible : — 
Water. Antozone. o/nyTogM. Oxygen. 
-f- — H H 1- 1* 
H^O + 000 = H^OO + 0 0. 
► Peroxide of hydrogen cannot, however, be formed by the com- 
+ — — I — 
bination of Hg 0 and 0 0 0. 
Again, it gives an explanation of the formation of antozone by 
the action of oil of vitriol on peroxide of barium. For we may 
suppose the peroxide of barium^ to decompose in the following 
manner : — 
+ 1- + — -h 
Ba^ 0 0 = Ba^ 0 + 0. 
+ 
The oxide of barium being formed as sulphate of barium. 0 then 
combines with some of the ordinary oxygen also given oif at the 
same time with the formation of antozone : — 
H — + H h 
00 + 0 = 00 0 . 
It must not be supposed that by the algebraic signs here used it 
is intended to denote that the atoms of oxygen preserve any abso- 
lute electric state. Although in a compound oxygen may act 
as 0, we must guard against imagining that in any chemical 
action 0 cannot be transformed even with the greatest facility into 
0. The fact of the production of free oxygen in the action just 
referred to shows that such is the case. Sulphuric acid is a highly 
electro-negative compound, and we can easily understand how the 
+ . 
positive electricity of 0 is neutralised by the sulphuric acid, and 
how 0 is even changed into 0. 
Again, by the action of heat on peroxide of hydrogen, it is de- 
composed into water and ordinary oxygen. We must here suppose 
that the peroxide decomposes thus — 
+ h + — + 
H^OO = H^O + 0, 
+ ^ — 
and that half of the 0 is changed by heat into 0 in order to form 
3 I 
VOL. V. 
