Nature's Hygiene: a Series of Essays on Popular Scientific Subjects, with Special Reference to the Chemistry and Hygiene of the Eticalyptus and the Pine

Abstract

THE subject of this book is, practically, Peroxide of Hydrogen. Such a title as “Peroxide of Hydrogen, with Special Reference to its Sanitary Applications,” might not have proved so taking as “Nature's Hygiene,” but it would have been quite as descriptive of the subject-matter of the work. Mr. Kingzett strives to show that the position which has been assigned to ozone as “Nature's purifier and disinfectant,” is not altogether merited by that body, but that it should rather be given to peroxide of hydrogen. There can be no doubt that these substances have been frequently confounded, and that in numerous instances reactions which have been attributed to ozone have been caused by hydrogen peroxide. It has been stated, for example, that the aromatic parts of flowers produce ozone, and that this substance is formed in considerable quantity by plants rich in essential oils—indeed the late Dr. Daubeny was of opinion that the oxygen evolved from plants by the decomposition of carbon dioxide in sunshine was always more or less ozonised; and other observers have sought to show that oil of turpentine and substances allied to the terpenes have the property of transforming oxygen into ozone. There is no doubt whatever that ozone is soluble in oil of turpentine; this is incontestably proved by the experiments of Soret, who, as all chemists know, has made capital use of the fact, but this is quite another thing to saying that oil of turpentine generates ozone. This confusion between ozone and hydrogen peroxide has mainly arisen from the difficulty of discriminating between the two substances, and it is only since the researches of Struve, made about ten or eleven years since, that the presence of the latter body in the air may be said to have been demonstrated. Observers were led astray by the supposition that the simultaneous existence of the two substances was impossible; chemically speaking, they were held to be incompatible. Recent observations have shown that the opinions hitherto held on this point must be modified. We are at present very much in the dark as to the causes which lead to the formation of peroxide of hydrogen in nature, but that many plants, and especially those which secrete essential oils, contribute to its production is almost certain. In the book before us Mr. Kingzett has collected a mass of evidence on this matter, and has presented it in an eminently readable and interesting form. Perhaps the most valuable part of the work is that which relates to the power exercised by the various members of the genus Eucalyptus in preventing or destroying malaria—which power according to our author is related to their property of forming peroxide of hydrogen.

Nature's Hygiene: a Series of Essays on Popular Scientific Subjects, with Special Reference to the Chemistry and Hygiene of the Eticalyptus and the Pine.

By C. T. Kingzett. (London: Baillière, Tindall, and Cox, 1880.)