548 
OZONIZATION  OF   OILS  OF  LEMON  AND  TURPENTINE. 
T  have  alluded  in  that  letter  to  Sehonbein's  views  of  the  nature 
of  the  principle  which  gives  to  some  of  the  oils  the  power  of  con- 
verting the  sulphuret  into  the  sulphate  of  lead. 
I  have  now  found  that  distillation,  or  simply  raising  turpentine 
to  its  boiling-point  for  a  short  time,  is  sufficient  to  destroy  its  oxi- 
dizing property;  but  1  failed  to  detect  free  oxygen  in  the  air  of 
the  retort  during  ebullition. 
On  exposure  to  the  air  for  twenty-four  hours  in  an  uncorked 
flask,  the  oil  becomes  again  partially  ozonized  ;  and  after  forty- 
eight  hours  I  found  the  power  of  discharging  the  color  from 
darkened  lead-paper  almost  as  strong  as  it  was  previous  to  the 
distillation. 
It  is  very  remarkable  that  the  vesidue  of  the  distillation,  which 
was  slightly  yellow,  had  in  this  time  acquired  more  than  twice  as 
much  bleaching  power  as  the  colorless  distillate. 
I  have  strong  reason  to  believe,  from  several  of  the  phcenomena 
which  I  have  observed,  that  the  ozone,  instead  of  being  liberated 
from  the  heated  turpentine  as  gaseous  oxygen,  combines  with  it  to 
form  a  resin,  which  remains  behind  in  the  distillation. 
*  «• 
On  this  supposition,  hydrogen  ought  to  be  liberated,  but  I  have 
not  detected  it,  and  probably  the  quantity  is  too  minute  to  be 
separated  on  the  small  scale  in  a  state  fit  for  examination  ;  or,  if 
ozone  be  O2,  it  is  possible  that  it  may  react  in  such  a  manner,  that 
an  equivalent  of  oxygen  unites  with  the  turpentine,  and  the  other 
forms  water  with  the  hydrogen  ;  and  in  support  of  this  supposition 
I  may  adduce  the  fact,  that  on  distilling  the  ozonized  turpentine, 
the  first  portion  came  over  cloudy  from  the  presence  of  water. 
It  is  important  to  observe,  that  oil  of  lemons,  as  pure  as  I  have 
been  able  to  obtain  it,  if  exposed  for  a  very  considerable  period  to 
the  atmosphere,  acquires  the  power  of  discharging  the  color  from 
darkened  lead-paper,  though  to  a  very  slight  extent  compared  with 
turpentine  ;  and  it  results,  in  effect,  that  the  difference  in  the  beha- 
viour of  the  two  oils  is  only  one  of  degree — Chem.  Gaz.,  Sept., 
1853* 
*  [The  reader  is  referred  to  Dr.  Plummer's  papers  on  this  subject  at 
pages  398  and  50S  of  this  volume. — Editor  Am.  Jour.  Pharm.] 
