New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-07-11
HOT WEATHER THEORIES.

The extreme heat of Tuesday was nOt dU-
tended with as many cases of sunstroke IN this
great centre of population as would naturally
have been expected With the highest tenn
perat,lre recorded in thirteen years there were
only few deaths in New-York and Brooklyn
which could be even vaguely attributed to the
heat and many of the cases OF temporary pros
tration were due to other causes. Sunstroke In
it's genuine form is an affection OF the cerebro-
spinal system caused by the overheating OF the
INNER part of the body. With so high tenn
perature coming Unexpectedly when people
were not prepared to meet it much greater
mortality would have been expected. But ex-
perience has shown that genuine sunstroke Is
most common when the air is charged With
aqueous vapor. Scientific authorities have re-
corded the fact that there are lover cases OF
sunstroke in upper India where hot dry winds
prevail than in Southern India, and notably In
Bengal. where the air is humid, albeit cooler.
The mortality from sunstrole during the re-
cent prolonged season of inclement heat In the
Western States has been very light, and i'm
munity from it has probably been caused by
the dryness of the air.
1t is a remarkable fact that in the Equatorial
zone. where the direct effect of solar heat is
greatest in blisterng the surface of the body,
sunstroke is very rare In the West Indies it
is almost unknown, and no precautions are re-
ouired in exposing the head to the sun. The
mortality from heat is much greater in Rio at
the southern tropic than in Para or Guaya-
ouil, close to the Equator. In tropical Africa
it is often dangerous to expose the head to the
direct heat of the sun, but in Equatorial Africa
the same risk may be taken with much greater
hnpunity. Those diseases which are closely
allied to slmstroke, such as the heat fever and
acces pernicosa of Rio, are also more common
in the tropics than at the Equator. Here too
humidity seems to be a powerful contributory
agent On the west coast of South America
where the air is dry these affections are I'M
known, but in Bahia, Rio, Santos and San
PauIo and other Brazilian towns, where the
climate is moist as well as hot, the mortality
from these causes is often very great even
when there is no direct exposure to the sun.
Even with the high temperatures recorded in
the Western States during the last fortnight
there have been no cases of thermic fever,
which is practically unknown where the air is
dry.
The pathological affections induced by heat
form department. Ol HleulClno Whicn 10 mooo
interesting field of Investigation. scientific
commission with competent medical staff
could collect in the West Indies and in South
America q body of information which would
be of the highest value in determining many
disputed questions and reconciling numerous
anomalies. 1t could also investigate phenomena
connected with the distribution of heat in the
northern and southern hemispheres-one OF
the most interesting and least understood fields
of physical research. As the earth is nearest
to the sun when it is midsummer in the south
crn and midwinter in the northern heml-
sphere, theoretically there ought to be hotter
summers and colder winters in one than III
the other; but when southern are compared
with northern ATTITUDES on this continent the
reverse is found to be true Both the heat and
the cold are greater in the northern hemi-
sphere-a result largely due perhaps to the
effect of ocean and air currents in modifying
the conditions of climate, but one that has
mover received adequate investigation from the
scientific world. The subject is one which
ought to excite interest in American colleges
and also to receive sufficient encouragement IN
Washington to lead to the equipment some day
of scientific expedition on large scale.