Medical climatology, or, A topographical and meteorological description of the localities resorted to in winter and summer by invalids of various classes, both at home and abroad / [R.E. Scoresby-Jackson].

  • Jackson, R. E. Scoresby- (Robert Edmund Scoresby-), 1835-1867.
Date:
1862
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Medical climatology, or, A topographical and meteorological description of the localities resorted to in winter and summer by invalids of various classes, both at home and abroad / [R.E. Scoresby-Jackson]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    in the decomposition of water by means of a voltaic pile whose electrodes consisted either of platinum or gold, the oxygen discharged at the positive pole emitted a peculiar odonr, but that when the apparatus consisted only of oxi- disable metals, the oxygen presented no peculiarity. This allotropic form of oxygen was subsequently procured by other chemical agencies, and moreover it was found to exist in a free state in the atmosphere, especially after ' thunderstorms, and also in the neighbourhood, and during the operations of large electric machines. Ozone is a gas possessed of remarkable powers of oxidation, and, on that account, is supposed to be capable of strong disinfecting and antiseptic functions, whereby it relieves the atmosphere of noxious miasmata and other impurities; it is incapable of supporting animal life, and, when breathed, irritates the lining membrane of the air-passages. A rabbit, placed by Schonbein in an atmosphere artificially impregnated with a small percentage of ozone, died in a few hours; and the presence of -g oV o °f the same gas in air inhaled by mice was almost immediately fatal. Much has been expected from this new atmospheric element. It has been stated that in it lies the secret antagonism to epidemics; because there is evidence to prove that during calm weather this class of diseases increase in virulence, whilst ozone, under the same atmospheric condition, diminishes in amount; and that when winds arise the pestilence retreats, whilst, and perhaps be- cause, ozone -increases in quantity. According to other authorities, when the amount of ozone in the atmosphere is not exaggerated, it acts merely as a slight stimulant; but that when present in excess, it gives an impetus to pulmonary and bronchial affections, and is capable of itself of giving rise to an epidemic of influenza. But our knowledge of the properties and functions of ozone is based upon far too
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