On the influence of variations of electric tension as the remote cause of epidemic and other diseases / by William Craig.
- William Craig
- Date:
- MDCCCLIX [1859]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: On the influence of variations of electric tension as the remote cause of epidemic and other diseases / by William Craig. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.
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![The presence or absence of ozone in the air may- be regarded as evidence of the presence or absence of electricity. Ozone being absent from the air during cholera, there must be an absence or a dimi- nution of electricity, as in the air there is always oxygen, on which electricity, if free and sufficiently concentrated, will operate. When the air is dry, this element will be in the greatest degree of concentration; and if there is no conducting agency to diffuse it, an accumulation taking place, it will seize upon the oxygen, com- bining with it and forming ozone. The principal source of the electricity in the air, is radiation from the earth. In the desert there must be large ac- cumulations ol electricity m the air. ] merely drawing a non-conducting body through the air, Dr. Livingstone caused a development of electricity,' showing that it must have been present in great abundance. In the atmosphere over the arid wilderness, destitute alike of vegetation and mois- ture, the electricity pouring down in large volumes from a burnlfhg sun, being too active to remain dor- mant, combines with the oxygen of the air and forms ozone. There is great probability that in the simoom of the desert there is a large accumulation of ozone. Large quantities of electricity are re- flected from the surface of the sand every twelve hours of sunshine • and it being known that elec- tricity forms a. combination with oxygen there should be no difficulty in admitting that 'in the mnooni there is a great concentration of ozone. ie effect on the living tissues demonstrates that, like ozone, the simoom has a powerfully decompos- ing influence. Travellers in the desert, who are not](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21308871_0445.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
