*kx  Jour.  Pharm„  1 
Mar.  1,  1874.  J 
Ozone,  etc. 
131 
ozone,  the  author  of  the  match  method,  Mr.  Sigismund  Beer,  of  this 
-city,  set  out  one  day  to  procure  a  quantity  of  that  substance  to  use  in 
sweetening  the  atmosphere  of  a  room  whose  musty  smell  had  success- 
fully resisted  the  power  of  ordinary  disinfectants.  Failing  to  find 
any  phosphorus  at  the  drug  stores  in  his  neighborhood,  it  occurred  to 
Mr.  Beer  that  possibly  lucifer  matches  might  furnish  the  needed 
element  in  a  condition  suited  to  his  purpose.  He  tried  them,  dipping 
them  into  warm  water  for  a  few  moments,  then  suspending  them  in 
the  obnoxious  room.  Their  effect  was  prompt  and  salutary  ;  and 
thereafter,  by  continuing  their  use,  he  was  able  to  enjoy  "  the  luxury 
of  pure  and  refreshing  air,"  notwithstanding  the  room  was  in  the 
basement  of  an  old  cellarless  house  on  made  land,  the  air  of  which 
was  further  tainted  by  a  quantity  of  moldy  books  and  papers.  In  a 
paper  lately  read  before  the  Polytechnic  branch  of  the  American  In- 
stitute, Mr.  Beer  narrates  a  number  of  subsequent  experiments  with 
the  same  simple  materials,  the  success  of  which  convinced  him  that  he 
had  made  a  veritable  discovery  of  great  importance. 
Touching  the  safety  of  the  method  he  proposes,  Mr.  Beer  is  confi- 
dent that  no  overcharging  of  the  air  with  ozone  or  other  injurious 
jnatter  may  be  apprehended  from  the  use  of  matches  in  the  manner 
he  describes.  Both  the  ozone  and  the  nitrite  of  ammonia  are  generated 
slowly,  and  their  force  is  swiftly  spent  by  combination  with  the  im- 
purities they  are  intended  to  remove.  It  is  obvious  that  the  supply  of 
the  purifying  agents  can  be  easily  regulated  by  increasing  or  dimin- 
ishing the  number  of  active  matches.  In  thej:oom  above  mentioned, 
six  bundles  of  matches  were  kept  active — some  near  the  ceiling,  others 
near  the  floor — by  daily  watering. 
In  another  instance  a  single  bunch  is  mentioned  as  having  sufficed 
for  quickly  purifying  the  air  of  a  room  in  which  several  adults  and 
-children  were  lying  sick,  but  in  this  case  the  air  was  fanned  against 
the  matches  while  they  were  carried  about  the  room,  thus  hightening 
their  activity,  How  long  a  match  retains  its  ozonizing  power,  Mr. 
Beer  does  not  say.  In  conclusion,  Mr.  Beer  claims  that,  whatever 
may  be  said  of  his  theory  of  match  action,  the  fact  is  indisputable 
that,  in  the  use  of  matches  as  he  suggests,  we  have  a  handy,  whole- 
some, and  inexpensive  means  of  freeing  our  houses  from  noxious  ex- 
halations and  the  long  train  of  evils  attendant  on  the  prevalence  of 
bad  air.  The  matter  is  easily  tested  and  certainly  well  worth  trying. 
— Scientific  American,  February  21,  1874. 
