The Central Nevadan. [volume] (Battle Mountain, Nev.) 1885-1907, 1888-03-08

Life is slow FIRE, and bodily heat
is the sign Of the burning. It's sources
are mainly found within the body
itself in the chemical changes which
are constantly going on. II You burn
piece of bread in the FIRE, you viii
get carbolic acid, water, ammonia and
heat; and, if you eat it, the result is
the same. Food then is fuel. But
another set Of hea, -givin. chemical
changes has its seat in the wasting of
the tissues, involye d in every thought,
in each movement, and III III ihs vital
processes. Hot foods and drinks and
heated atmosphsres are ARTIFICIAL addi-
tions to our own heat. We lsse
some heat in the excretious thus, for
example, in breathing, the air during
hts sojourn IN the lungs is warmed, MS
we know familiarly from blowing up,l.
our cold hands in winter. Then some
more is lost in raising any cold foed oi
drink to the temp r.ture of the stom-
ach. But the greatest amount is lost
through the skin; and thus is partly by
radiation, just as kettle with hot
water rauiates Its heat out into the
air. The subcutaneous layer of fat,
hen xsl,, l. Il
heat, prev vents much losss vi this kind;
and persons with abundant fat are
therefore more readily kept warm. A
further loss occurs by the evaporation
Of the sweat, the heat of the body be-
ing used up in forming this into vapor,
Just as the heat Of lire is used up III
converting water into steam. This
evaporation is going on always, either
quite unuSticed by US when We per-
spire .'insensibly," or very visibly,
when We perspire "sensibly" as after
exertlon oa hot Gay. 1t is enc
great office Of the persplration to
MAINTAIN this balance between the
heat produced and that which is Lost,
the result being that there ia a stand
ard of bodily temperature kept perpetu-
ally within marrow limits. A thermo-
meter allowed to lie for ten minutes
or 50 next the skin in the covered arm
PIT, will stand at 98l degrees Fahren-
heit, and the heat registered remains
the same in health through winter and
sunnncr, in temperate latitudes with
the air at % degrees Fahrenheit, in
the tropics with the air at 100 degrees
Fahrenheit, andin Arctic regions with
the air at 20 degrees Fahrenheit, when
metal bites the hand with its intense
cold. This regulation of our temperx-
ture is under the control OF the ner-
vous system, acting upon the blood
vessels. Under the influence of ex
ternal cold the small arteries in he
skin contract, there is blood there,
and therefore less activity of the
sweat.glands, with the pale, dry,
goose-skin condition seen on a cold
morning. Under the influence Of ex-
ternal heat, ON the other hand, the
little vessels are widely relaxed, there
is much more radiation, and great
production of sweat, the red, moist,
hot skin covered with sensible per-
spiration leading to greater evapora-
tion and therefore more cooling, just
as in the application Of a cooling lotion
like eau-de-Cologne.
The primary object of clothing in
Geld climates is b retain the heat of
the body; in hot climates it may
serve the opposite purpose of protect
ing from the sun; while in any place
secondary but most important object
is ornament. As to material, wool is
the best for retaining heat, for it Is a
bad conductor, and preventing loss.
feels "warn." 1t is particularly de-
sirable as underclothing for children
and old persons, who have not much
power Of resisting cold and require
warm coverings. In climate with
rapid changes in temperature the great
value of wooden underclothing is Iec-
ognized by its universal use to main
tain an equabls warmth. In hot
weather cotton underclothing is cooler
because it is q better conductor of
heat, and therefore allows of more
loss, but then it at the same time con-
ducts more of the external heat to the