The Rusting of Iron

Abstract

IN view of the correspondence which has taken place recently in NATURE on this subject, I should like to refer to the results of some further investigations which I have made in conjunction with Mr. J. R. Hill in continuation of those published in the Journal of the Chemical Society in 1905. In that paper, and in other previous publications, experimental evidence was brought forward to show that the rusting of iron can take place in the absence of carbon dioxide, contrary to the generally accepted view. Several chemists have addressed themselves to the task of defending the old opinion that carbon dioxide is necessary. Their arguments were summarised recently in an article in NATURE initialled “T. M. L.” No exception can be taken to this article if its limitations are clearly recognised. It omits all reference to the large body of experimental work which has been published by Whitney, Tilden and others, in addition to myself, to show that the old view must be abandoned. The most recent work of Lambert and Thomson confirms this conclusion, whilst making an important addition to our knowledge of the conditions of reaction between iron, oxygen, and water when brought together in the most highly purified forms.