13 
oxygen, and in certain instances resulting in the development of char- 
acteristic vegetable colors ( 378 ). He proved, further, that just as a 
large number of substances have the power of activating the oxygen 
of the air, so also an even larger number have the power of activating 
the oxygen of hydrogen peroxide and other antozonides. Thus 
while hydrogen peroxide and old oil of turpentine are without action 
on guaiacum or a solution of potassium iodide and starch, the oxida- 
tion and bluing of these reagents are readily accomplished by these 
oxidizing agents through the action of platinum black, extract of 
malt, the red coloring matter of the blood, and the juices and extracts 
of many plants, for the reason that, according to Schoenbein ( 383 ), 
they are converted into ozonides, in the same way that an ozonide, 
like lead peroxide, results from the action of lead acetate on hydrogen 
peroxide. 
He also proved that ozone is formed during many processes of com- 
bustion, an observation which led to the conclusion that everv 
combustion is accompanied by the formation of ozone, and finally to 
the view that no oxidation can proceed of itself without the previous 
conversion of the common inactive oxygen of the air into active 
oxygen or ozone. In this manner he readily accounted for the phe- 
nomenon of oxygen carrying, and arrived at the further conclusion 
that through the agency of living things and the organic matter on 
the surface of the earth, the inactive oxygen of the air is constantly 
being transformed into ozone. This gradual formation of ozone 
through these agencies was deemed sufficient to account for the slow 
oxidations continually taking place on the surface of the earth, and 
in speaking of the oxygen-carrying power of certain substances con- 
tained in the blood of animals, which like phosphorus and oil of bitter 
almonds can activate the inactive respired oxygen, he says that “as 
a matter of fact, without the presence of such substances as convert 
ordinary oxygen into ozone, animals would be suffocated in the 
midst of an ocean of the purest but inactive oxygen as quickly as in 
a vacuous space.” (Schoenbein ( 380 ).) 
Indeed, upon every hand, apparently, facts and observations mul- 
tiplied, indicating the importance of ozone in the economy of nature. 
Hare ( 205 ) observed its production as the result of rubbing a piece of 
flint . F or example, the odor of ozone is very evident when flint is struck 
with a piece of steel. Brarne ( 93 ) detected ozone in rain water. Scout- 
etten ( 394> 395 > 396> 397 ) observed its production in the evaporation 
of impure waters. As a matter of fact ozone became the chemical 
fad of the day, with the result that its importance in nature was 
greatly overestimated. Thus during the years 1866-67 daily obser- 
vations were made on the amount of ozone in the atmosphere of Paris 
and other localities, and evervwhere men were busilv engaged in 
studying its relation to health and disease. Its absence from the 
