Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1907-08-06
temperature We Feel Dependent
Upon Many Circumstances
Not Taken Into Account.
THERE MAY BE JUSTIFICATION
,upossiblc for Him TO Tell Each One
satisfactorily just What Sort
OF Day is Due.

that the temperatures recorded at tne
4 local weather bureau stations are too
n Inv aud do not really represent the
4 heat which we feel. In cold weather
there Is often similar objection, to the
"A offect that the Official" temperatures
N are too high. This complaint arises
81 from the fact that the public generally
III does not realize that air temperature, "
N ms recorded by a standard thermometer,
y AT some distance above the ground, in
"A shelter. protected from rain and sun
81 shine and radiation from surrounding
n objects does not and cannot indicate
Il The temperature that we actually feel.
n The latter, which has been called sen
81 siilc tn'nnerature, 'denond9 upon great
4 variety OF factors which either do not
n enter into the so-called "air tempera-
a ture" at all, or else are of secondary
a Importance. For example. other me-
4 neurological conditions, such as the hui
\ Nudity of the air the wind, the expo
n sure to direct insulation and to re-
n nected heat, and other more or less ac-
n cidental physical conditions, such az the
4 state of the human body, whether In
y good health or bad; the clothing, both
" as to kind and as to amount; the kind
and the conditions of occupation; the
4 nourlshment of the body: even the mem
tai conditions of the individual-these
and other factors enter into the ac-
count, says Robert Dec. Ward, assist
ant professor of climatology, Harvard
d university, in an article In the Boston
Transcript.
VERY UNLIKE THERMOMETER.
The human body Is not like thermo-
4 meter IN having no temperature of its
N own. II is heat engine. which has a
a high eternal temperature to keep up.
This temperature Is maintained by a
d slow internal combustion, in which the
4 food plays the part of the fuel in the
steam engine, and heat is constantly
being lost from the skin, as well as
from the lungs, in the process of respir-
alton, and in warming the food taken
into the stomach, Helmholtz believed
u that over tAree-fourths of the total
loss takes place from the skin, and
1 about 20 per cent from the lungs.
4 The loss from the lungs varies with
4 the temperature and with the relative
humidity of the air; the higher the
temperature and relative humidity. the
4 less Is the loss. The loss of water from
the lungs is not directly noticeable,
We estimate the moisture of the at
nosfh4-e chiefly by the loss OF water
from the skin. which amounts to about
n twice as much as that from the lungs.
HOW WE LOSE HEAT.
The loss of heat from the external
surface of the body, as has been clear
II ~ SGh III III ny van IDtDDCts ~ AGCOff1-
plished by means of three familiar
physical proceSses--conductio radia-
ton, evaporation. The amount of heat
lost by conduction depends on
the difference of temperature be-
tween the body and the surrounding
air, and upon the conductivity of the
air. Other things being equal the
colder the air the greater the coolins
by conduction; the warmer the air, the
less. Hence, eonduction may be ex-
pected to be OF a maximum in winter.
Secondly. when there is wind, more
heat Is lost by conductlon. Everyone
knows that severe cold which may be
easily endured when the air is calm
j may become unbearable when there is
even a slight movement of the air.
The springing UP of breeze on a
Il bright, cold winter day may change
4 the temperature which we feel from an
agreeable one to one which Is decidedly
81 chilly, although the thermometer shows
no change at all. The difference be-
8 tween calm cold and windy cold is very
ii strtkingly brought out In the rel is
q from Arctic and Antarctic exploring eX-
81 petitions. Temperatures of 20 degrees,
Il 30 degrees, even 40 degrees, below zero
ID are described as being comfortable
~ when there is no wind Manson, for
a example, says on one occasion: THE
II temperature today is ~ degrees Fahr
n below Zero but there is no wind, and
y we nave not had such pleasant weather
n for walking for long time 1t feels al
most wild when the air Is STILL SINH
Il Jar statements may be found in album
dance In the writings of other Arctic
"a explorers, II being frequently noted
4 that the heavy clothing was too warm
a at these very low temperatures. In the
Il Polar regions then. the feeling of cold
q and the reading of the thermometer are
81 not In any closer agreement than they
aN.a ~ .ts.,-l
n itre more comfortable with some wind.
Thirdly, the moisture of the air Is an
4 important consideration in this matter,
for damp air Is better conductor than
81 dry air. Hence, in winter. damp cold is
II so much harder to bear than dry cold.
Il The damp northeast winds on the New
England coast In winter often feel
colder than dry northwest winds which
have lower temperature. although the
4 velocity may be the same In the two
gases. Obviously, however, evapora-
A ton enters in to complicate this ques-
lion OF conduction somewhat.
4 RADIATION AND EVAPORATION.
The amount OF heat lost by the body
& through radiation depends on the tenn
lerature and the radiating powers Of
surrounding objects. such as walls,
yaVements, vegetation, furniture, etc.
IL IS conceivable that one should be
20 placed that the temperature OF all
surrounding objects. and of the air as
4 wen, should be just the same as the
Body temperature. In such a case the
body would lose nothing by radiation.
TOR would IL lose anything by conduc-
/ Lon, The only loss would be by eva
poration, unless the air were saturated,
Va which case the conditions would be
nQbearable for any length Of time.
When radiation " checked. as by the
PRESENCE OF many persons crowded to-
gether or by the proximity OF hot
Nalls. pavements, etc, the body may
buiter serious consequences, as In the
ease OF prostratlon by the heat and
Hanslroko which, as is well known,
Usually attack people who are exposed
unher rather special conditions, as, @.
~ laborers on sewers and railways,
masons and painters close TO the walls
" buildings etc. When troops are on
me march II has been shown that the
men who suffer most are In the middle
ai the column, whore they can lose
east heat by radiation.
II Is difficult to consider the adjust
ment of the body to the temperature
4 conditions OF the air without taking
account OF evaporation, which ie of
'efy great Importance, and ls almost
alWays In operation 10 greater or less
leBree The human body In health
aas not a dry surface. like the dry
rub thermometer, but Is more or less
MOIST because of the emulation of per-
braiion through the pores of the skin.