The oxidases and other oxygen - catalysts concerned in biological oxidations / by J. H. Kastle.

  • Kastle, Joseph H. (Joseph Hoeing), 1864-1916.
Date:
[1910]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The oxidases and other oxygen - catalysts concerned in biological oxidations / by J. H. Kastle. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    oxv-en and in certain instances resulting in the development of char- acteristic vegetable colors (378). He proved, further, that just as a We number of substances have the power of activating the oxygen of the air, so also an even larger number have the power of activating the oxygen of hydrogen peroxide and other antozomdes. Thu while hydrogen peroxide and old oil of turpentine are without action on guaiacum or a solution of potassium iodide and starch, the oxida- tion and bluing of these reagents are readily accomplished by these oxidizing agents through the action of platinum black, extract of malt, the red coloring matter of the blood, and the juices and extracts of many plants, for the reason that, according to Schoenbem ( ), they are converted into ozonides, in the same way that an ozonide, like lead peroxide, results from the action of lead acetate on hydrogen peroxide. _ „ He also proved that ozone is formed during many processes of com- bustion, an observation which led to the conclusion that every combustion is accompanied by the formation of ozone, and finally to the view that no oxidation can proceed of itself without the previous conversion of the common inactive oxygen of the air into active oxygen or ozone. In this manner he readily accounted for the phe- nomenon of oxygen carrying, and arrived at the further conclusion that through the agency of living tilings and the organic matter on the surface of the earth, the inactive oxygen of the air is constantly being transformed into ozone. This gradual formation of ozone through these agencies was deemed sufficient to account for the slow oxidations continually taking place on the surface of the earth, and in speaking of the oxygen-carrying power of certain substances con- tained in the blood of animals, which like phosphorus and oil of bitter almonds can activate the inactive respired oxygen, he says that “as a matter of fact, without the presence of such substances as convert ordinary oxygen into ozone, animals would be suffocated in the midst of an ocean of the purest but inactive oxygen as quickly as in a vacuous space. ” (Schoenbein (380).) Indeed, upon every hand, apparently, facts and observations mul- tiplied, indicating the importance of ozone in the economy of nature. Hare (205) observed its production as the result of rubbing a piece of flint. Forexample, theodorof ozone isvery evident when flint is struck with a piece of steel. Brame (93) detected ozone in rain water. Scout- etten (394 > 395 > 396’ 397) observed its production in the evaporation of impure waters. As a matter of fact ozone became the chemical fad of the day, with the result that its importance in nature was greatly overestimated. Thus during the i^ears 1866-67 daily obser- vations were made on the amount of ozone in the atmosphere of Paris and other localities, and everywhere men were busily engaged in studying its relation to health and disease. Its absence from the