Schonbien, the discoverer of ozone, inclines to the opinion that it is a new chemical element. Whatever it may be, there can be no doubt that it plays an important part in the economy of nature. Its absence has been marked by pestilential ravages, as in the cholera visitations; and to its excess are attributed epidemics, such as influenza. It was found, during the last visitation of cholera, that the fumigation of houses with sulphur had a remarkable efficacy in preventing the spread of the contagion. The combustion of sulphur ozonised the atmosphere; the same result occurs through the emission of phosphoric vapours; ozone is also developed by the electricity evolved by the electrical machine, and in the greater electrical phenomena of nature. The smell imparted to the air during an electric storm is identical with that which occurs in the vicinity of an electrical apparatus—it is a fresh and sulphurous odour. The opinion is gaining ground that the respiration of animals and the combustion of matter are sources of ozone, and that plants produce it when under the influence of the direct rays of the sun. It is also believed to be produced by water, when the sun's rays fall upon it. The most recent opinion respecting ozone is, that it is electrized oxygen. The subject is of vast importance, and opens another field of discovery to the pioneers of scientific truth.
"The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world, the earth trembled and shook."—Psalm lxvii.
Magnetism is the electricity of the earth, and is characterised by the circulation of currents of electricity passing through the earth's surface.
634. What are magnetic bodies?
Magnetic bodies are those that exhibit phenomena which show that they are under the influence of terrestrial electricity, and which indicate the direction of the poles, or extreme points, of magnetic force.