Christian Friedrich Schoenbein to Faraday   25 April 1857

Basle April 25th 1857

My dear Faraday

I write you these lines to ask you the favor of letting occasionally know your Friend at Stamford-hill¹, that, about the time indicated by her, my daughter will keep herself ready for her projected journey to England and hope that some proper travelling companions will in the right season make their appearance at Basle, under whose guidance Miss Schoenbein may safely be carried over to London.- The last holidays I passed at Munic and as you may easily imagine in a very agreeable manner, though in consequence of having sprained my leg I was kept in bed there for nearly a week. Liebig and many other scientific and artistic friends were at home, so that there was no want of rational enjoyments in the bavarian capital. Amongst the curiosities seen there, there was a specimen of the poisoned chinese bread sent to Liebig for chemical analysis. He found considerable quantities of Arsenic in it. Of late I (have) worked again a good on my favorite subject and ascertained a number of facts which seem to me to put beyond doubt the correctness of that old notion of mine, according to which oxigen, such as it exists in the atmosphere, is in a chemical point of view an entirely inert body and any oxidation being apparently brought about by it, is preceeded by its allotropic change of condition. The essential oil of bitter Almonds (Benzule) has become to me a beautiful object of research, which substance, being assisted by solar light, enjoys the power of rapidly taking up common oxigen and transforming it into that state, in which it produces all the oxidizing effects of ozonised oxigen decomposition of jodide of potassium, coloring blue the solution of guajacum etc. Leaving that oxigen associated to the oil, it rather rapidly oxidized that matter into hydrated benzoic acid. In presenting my best compliments to Mrs. Faraday and begging you to drop the inclosed into a letter box I am my dear Faraday

Yours | most truly | C.F. Schoenbein