Chamberss Edinburgh Journal, No. 455 | Page 6

been attributed to this influence, more than
perhaps we are warranted in assuming in the present state of our
knowledge. That an influence is exerted in some way, is clear from the

difference in our feelings in dry and wet weather: it has been supposed,
however, that the effects on the nervous system are not produced by an
accumulation of positive or of negative electricity, but by the
combination of the two producing dynamic electricity. While these
points are undergoing discussion, we have an opportunity of bringing
before our readers the results of investigations bearing on the general
question.
Most persons are aware of the fact, that a peculiar taste follows the
application of two different metals to the tongue in a popular galvanic
experiment. This taste is caused by the azotic acid formed from the
oxygen and azote of the atmosphere. An electric discharge, too, is
accompanied by a smell, which smell is due to the presence of what is
called ozone; and not long ago M. Schoenbein, of Basel, the inventor of
guncotton, discovered ozone as a principle in the oxygen of the
atmosphere; and it is considered to be the active principle of that
universal constituent. Later researches have brought out a striking
analogy between the properties of ozone and chlorine, and have led to
conclusions as to the dangerous effect which the former may produce,
in certain cases, on the organs of respiration. Some idea of its energy
may be formed from the fact, that mice perish speedily in air which
contains one six-thousandth of ozone. It is always present in the
atmosphere in a greater or lesser degree, in direct relation with the
amount of atmospheric electricity, and appears to obey the same laws
in its variations, finding its maximum in winter and its minimum in
summer.
Ozone, in scientific language, is described as 'a compound of oxygen
analogous to the peroxide of hydrogen, or, that it is oxygen in an
allotropic state--that is, with the capability of immediate and ready
action impressed upon it.' Besides being produced by electrical
discharges in the atmosphere, it can be obtained artificially by the
passing of what is called the electrical brush into the air from a moist
wooden point, or by electrolyzed water or phosphorus. The process,
when the latter substance is employed, is to put a small piece, clean
scraped, about half an inch long, into a large bottle which contains just
so much of water as to half cover the phosphorus, and then closing the

mouth slightly, to guard against combustion, to leave it standing for a
time in a temperature of about 60 degrees. Ozone soon begins to be
formed, as shewn by the rising of a light column of smoke from the
phosphorus, which, at the same time, becomes luminous. In five or six
hours, the quantity will be abundant, when the bottle is to be emptied of
its contents, washed out, and closed for use and experiment.
Whichever way the ozone be produced, it is always identical in its
properties; and these are described as numerous and remarkable. Its
odour is peculiar, resembling that of chlorine, and, when diluted,
cannot be distinguished from what is called the electric smell. When
largely diffused in atmospheric air, it causes unpleasant sensations,
makes respiration difficult, and, by acting powerfully on the mucous
membranes, produces catarrhal effects; and as such air will kill small
animals, it shews that pure ozone must be highly injurious to the animal
economy. It is insoluble in water, is powerfully electromotive, and is
most strikingly energetic in numerous chemical agencies, its action on
nearly all metallic bodies being to carry them at once to the state of
peroxide, or to their highest point of oxidation; it changes sulphurets
into sulphates, instantaneously destroys several gaseous compounds,
and bleaches indigo, thus shewing its analogy with chlorine.
In proceeding to the account of his experiments, M. Schoenbein shews,
that gases can be produced by chemical means, which exercise an
oxidizing influence of a powerful nature, especially in their
physiological effects, even when diffused through the atmosphere in
very minute quantities: also, that owing to the immense number of
organic beings on the earth, their daily death and decomposition, an
enormous amount of gases is produced similar to those which can be
obtained by artificial means; and besides these, a quantity of gaseous or
volatile products, 'whose chemical nature,' as the author observes, 'is as
yet unknown, but of which we can easily admit that some, at least,
diffused through the air, even in very small quantities, and breathed
with it, exert a most deplorable action on the animal organism. Hence it
follows, that the decomposition of organic matters ought to be
considered as one of the principal causes of the corruption of the air by
miasmatic