The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1897-01-06
DEATH IN THE AIR OF CITIES.

The Smithsonian Institution will soon
| publish three OF the essays obtaino in the
! great Hodgkin prize competition in which
awards were made last year.
They will be issued beth in the annual
report OF the Institution and separately.
In all about 1000 copies of each Will be
printed. They viii be distributed wherever
it seems learning win be most effectively
advanced.
The essays selected for publication at
this time are among the most popular in
the method of treatment. The general
subject. of course is that upon which the
competition was baaed, viz: the relation of
the atmosphere to the welfare of man.
Oneis the treatise on Air and Life" by
Alfred-de Varigny, of Paris, for which the
third prize of 81 .00O was awarded. 1t
is an elaboration Of the paper upon the
same subject 10y NJ. de Varigny which was
reprinted in the Smithsonian report for
1898. Another is 10y Francis A X. RdS-
sell. vice president of the Royal Meteoro-
logical society OF Great Britain. The
subject is The Atmosphere in Relation
to Life aud Health.' This makes book
Of $50 pages by itself.
The third is entitled Air OF Towns and
is by Prof. J. b. Cohen OF Yorkshire Col
lege, near Leeds, England. 1t is well
illustrated and contains a great deal of
rnatterof generanfnterest in all large cities
DIR. Cohen thinks the ideal city would
have a smokeleSs atmosphere, through
which the sun would shine with the full
brilliancy Of the open country, and would
be blessed with wide streets, interrupted by
open spaces with green turf trees and flow
er beds. If people can be convinced Of
the possibility of this condition he says a
long step will have been taken toward
procuring them.
or course, all that Washington lacks OF
this ideal now is the smOkeless atmosphere,
and the Commissioners have already for
more than a year been investigating meth
DDS by which the smoke nuisance may be
abated in part at least
The cumulative effect of imperceptible
changes in the atmosphere is pointed out
as an ipsidious source OF danger TO health.
This is compared to the effect of white lead
taken internally in minute doses. 1t in
time produces the effect of a poisonous dose.
This is known TO the medical profession
as cumulative poisoning Bad air also fur
nishes an example of cumulative poisoning.
The quality of the air we breathe is little
noticed, because it is free. If we had To
bay air at so much per pound we should |
as in the case of butter. There is this diff |
ference i'm the case OF food: the digestive |
organs reject tie harmful portions, but the |
respiratory organs have no way OF reject |
ing the bad part of the air until after the |
damage is done.
The results OF large number of expert |
ments, both by the writer and by other in |
vestigators, in the same line, are given |
The latest facts in regard to the constitu- |
ton OF the air, both in cities and in the |
country, are presented. and the conclusion |
drawn from them as to the effect of the air |
of cities upon human life and health.
DIR. RansoTne quoted as follows: "Aque-
GUS vapor, arising from the breath and from
the general surface of the body, contains |
a minute proportion OF animal refuse mat /
ter, which has been proved by actual ex-
pertinent TO be a deadly poison. 1t is the
substance which gives the peculiar, close,
unpleasant smell perceived on leaving fresh |
air and entering confined space occupied
by human beings or other animals. Air
thus charged has been fully proved to be |
the great cause Of scrofulous and tuber-
culous diseases. 1t is the home and nour-