EADIATION OF HEAT BY GASEOUS MATTER. 
85 
salt. The absorption of the oxygen thus obtained with the smallest plates amounted to 
136. 
By the results already recorded we have been prepared for the effect of minute quan- 
tities of matter ; otherwise we could not fail to be struck with astonishment on finding 
a quantity of this substance, which would elude all attempts on the part of the chemist 
to determine its amount, producing an effect so stupendous in comparison with common 
oxygen. I have, moreover, strong reason to believe that I understate considerably the 
effect of the ozone. The experiments exhibit in an extremely striking manner the great 
influence of the density of the current at the place where the oxygen is liberated on the 
amount of ozone developed. 
§ 11 . 
All the results here recorded had been obtained, when, turning to De la Hive’s excel- 
lent treatise on Electricity, I found an allusion to the experiments of M. Meidinger on 
ozone. I had never pre\iously heard any allusion made to this investigation, and was 
gratified to find in it the record of a very interesting piece of work. 
M. Meidixger commences by showing the absence of agreement between theory and 
experiment in the decomposition of water, the difference showing itself very decidedly 
in a deficiency of oxygen ivlien the current was strong. On heating his electrolyte, he 
found that this difference disappeared, the proper quantity of oxygen being liberated. 
He at once sm’mised that the defect of oxygen might be due to the formation of ozone ; 
but in what way was still to be determined. If it were due to the great density of 
ozone in the tube which received the oxygen, the destruction of this substance by heat 
would restore the oxygen to its true volume. Strong heating, however, which destroyed 
the ozone, showed in repeated measurements no alteration of volume, hence M. Meidinger 
concluded that the defect which he had observed was not due to the ozone mixed with 
the oxygen itself. He finally concluded, and justified his conclusion by satisfactory expe- 
riments, that the loss of oxygen was caused by the formation of peroxide of hydrogen 
which was dissolved in the liquid, and thus withdrawn from the electrolytic gas. He 
was further led to experiment with electrodes of different sizes, and found the loss of 
oxygen much more considerable when a small electrode was used than with a large one ; 
whence he inferred that the formation of ozone was facilitated by augmenting the density 
of the current at the place where electrode and electrolyte meet. Nothing could be more 
different from the method pursued by M. Meidinger than that by which I arrived at 
the same conclusion ; and though I had no doubt of the accuracy of my experiments, it 
was pleasant to find them corroborated in such a remarkable and unexpected way. I 
may add, that since the perusal of M. Meidinger’s paper I have repeated his experiments 
with my decomposition cells, and find that those which gave me the greatest absorption 
also show the greatest deficiency in the amount of oxygen liberated*. 
* I have recently learned that M. He la Rive was the first to observe the influence of the size of the 
electrodes on the development of ozone. 
