River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1879-11-27
HYGIENE.

W Il submit the following upon q
point which is of Importance t. all.
1t is given by high authority ,one Of the
authors being a physician in st. Paul.
and the other, the u. S. Signal Sei vice
officer for that city. We give it with
out comment or Endorsement. There
are other points as the poisoning Of
the air by the passage of gass from
the red hot stove, that need explana-
ton. Contributions invited.
Upon a pole placed upright, in the
corner of the room furtherest from
the stove, were hung three thermom-
eters, one inches from the floor. an
other A feet 3 inches, and the third I
feet 2 inches, near the ceiling. The
outdoor temperature was "a degrees
the indoor temperature or condition
of the room was what is usually called
comfortable, although when sitting
still the feet were none too warm. On
reading the thermometers the one s
inches from the floor was 50 degrees
the one feet inches IS degrees
the top one 90 degrees-showing a diff
ference of Al degrees between the low
er and upper thermometers. The wet
bulb thermometer indicating the SEN
Sible heat stood $50. Relative humid
ity 35-l00. Without increasing the
fire in any way vessel, constructed
to fit down into the hole in the stove
top, containing water, was so adjusted
as to soon begin to boil. AS evapor-
~ hn Il
creased till the room became uncOm-
fortably hot. Upon reading the Their
mometers we find that the heat had
changed places, or more properly speak
ing, had become diffused more equally
throughout the room. The bottom
thermometer had risen from 52s to7lo,
the middle one from $50 to 800, while
the top one had fallen from $50 to $50.
The wet bulb thermometer had risen
from 52S to 600, and the relative hui
Nudity increased to $500. Showing
a difference OF only l4o between top
and bottom in moist heat against A
dogs. in the dry heat. Bringing as it
were at once 20 per cent. of heat from
the top of the room where it was USE
less and wasted, down to the bottom
of the room where it could be utilized
for our comfort and health.
In conclusion,y your committee would
recommend, as means of arriving at
the best results, that in rooms heated
by stoves large flat dish or pan of
water should always be placed OF Tie
stove, while for THOSE supplied with
furnace heat some arrangement Should
be made by which quantity of steam
is furnished the hot air flues. If this
is done your committee feel assur-
ed that a very material reduction will
appear in your bills for fuel, while the
benefit to health and comfort will be
beyond price. r. O. SwEENY,
III. f. COLE.
COMMENTS BY DIR. S. NJ. DAVIS.
The above report of a committee
made to the Board of commerce, of st.
Paul, is before the Public, as author
ity.
The first part 'of the report with
reference to the equalizing of heat,
by the diffusion OF steam, l take no is
sue; facts speak for themselves, but
the closing paragraph, which recon-
nlends, the diffusion of steam. as a
sanitary means for the promotion of
health, / must respectfully dissent.
First. Because economy should not
be recommended to the detriment to
health.
Second. Because the supersatura-
ton of the air, in dwellings and school
rooms, by the diffusion of steam, or
visible vapor, renders said atmosphere
an unhealthy one.
1t is an established fact, that damp
situations, and damp apartments, are
the abedes of i'll health, and it is GER
tain, that disease germs multiply, and
virus increase in malignancy, in a
heated and supersaturated atmosphere.
In support of my adverse views, up
on this important subject, l will refer
the reader, to some published facts,
and to the experience of physicians
generally.
In Colorado, where rain is strang-
er, where the air is so dry that meats
hung up in the open air, will cure and
dry, without the least faint. even in
the hottest summer weather, yet the
climate, is acknowledged to be salu-
brious and healthy. In Bolivia and
Peru, in South America, the atmos-
phere is so dry, they build houses of
rock salt, or Chord of sodium which is
strong attractnr of moisture, the
climate is noted for it's healthfulness.
Springer, in his life of Mahomet, bears
enthusiastic testimony, to the health.
ful and invigorating quality of the
cloudless climate of Arabia. A native
of the Alps, land familiar with the Him.
alyas admits that the climate of those
mountain regions is by no means sc
| invigorating as the Arabian Desert
Palgrave in speaking of the sanitary
effects of dry air says, "The Harmat
tan winds. which blow from the int
rior Of the Desert of Shahara to the
west coast of Africa between Cape
Verde, 15o north, to Cape Lopes, 10
south, line of two thousand miles
last from one to fifteen days, and dur
ing its prevalence every green Leaf
dries up and can be rubbed to dust
between the fingers. Book covers
shut up in trunks, warp as though
they had been exposed to fire. Furni
ture cracks; PANELS of doors split,
and veneered work flies to pieces. lis
says. the striking feature of this wind
is its salubrity, and that it is highly
conducive to health. Those laboring
under fevers, speedily recover the
feeble gain strength, and rheumatism
and malarious diseases disappear as
| by magic.