42 
observations have made it in a high degree probable that there exist 
in the blood of animals substances having the power to change the 
respired inactive oxygen in a similar way to that accomplished by 
phosphorus and oil of bitter almonds — that is, substances which 
render the oxygen active, whereby the oxidation phenomena observed 
in the life cycle are brought about. He adds, further, that without 
° 
the presence of such substances as convert (O) into O the animal would 
be suffocated in the midst of an ocean of the purest, but inactive, 
oxygen as quickly as it would be in a vacuum. 
Schoenbem’s remarkable observations in this field, however, did 
not end here. From his extended investigations on ozone and hydro- 
gen peroxide he had reached the conclusions that oxygen can exist 
in three forms, viz, common oxygen, which he represented by O or 
(O), ozone, O or (0), and ant ozone, ©or (©); and that deriving from 
these three modifications of oxygen, respectively, we have three 
classes of oxides, viz, (1) ordinary oxides, such as water; (2) ozonides, 
which included most if not all of the peroxides of the heavy metals, 
such as manganese dioxide and lead peroxide, and (3) ant ozonides, 
like hydrogen peroxide and barium dioxide 
O 0 © 
HO (old formula) , MnO + 0, HO + ©. 
CaO, PbO + 0, BaO + ©. 
Of these several forms of oxvgen, the ozonic modification was the 
most active. He had observed, further, that just as the common oxy- 
gen is transformed into ozone through the influence of ozonizers, such 
as phosphorus, platinum, etc., so the oxvgen of the ant ozonides © may 
be transformed into the ozonic modification, 0, by the action of certain 
substances such as platinum or lead salts, etc., and that finally as a 
result of the neutralization of their electrically opposite potentials, 
an ozonide reacts with an antozonide with the production of common 
oxygen. Thus ozone and hydrogen peroxide give rise to common 
oxygen and water: 
0 + HO + © = H0 + 20. 
He found, for example, that guaiacum blue results from the action of 
finely divided platinum on tincture of guaiacum and air or hydrogen 
peroxide, whereas neither of these substances can effect this alteration 
in the color of the guaiacum, or can do so only with extreme slowness, 
when used alone. It had been previously observed by Thenard that 
hydrogen peroxide is decomposed by finely divided platinum into 
water and common oxygen. All of these facts found a simple expla- 
nation in terms of Schoenbein's theorv. According to this theorv, 
neither common oxvgen nor antozone nor an antozonide can blue 
guaiacum. for the reason that the resin only combines with the ozonic 
