Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1907-08-06

from losing heat too rapidly TO the sur
rounding air. Rubner has found that
the temperature ON the skin OF man
dressed In the usual number of articles
of winter clothing was about the same
when the air temperature was 30 de-
grees as when IT was 70 degrees In
this connection, the behavior OF differ
ent kinds OF clothing materials in re-
lation to moisture Is naturally Of con-
siderable Importance Evidently, also.
the questions whether the individual
is taking exercise, how violent the ex-
ercise. and under what conditions with
reference to surrounding objects. are all
to be considered ms controlling factors.
for, obviously, on a cold day. two per-
sons will experience very different tenn
peratures If one of them is sitting still
and the other is dlgging trench
THE SUN a GREE FACTOR.
The factor of exposure to radiation
whether directly from the sun, or from
the sky. the surface OF the earth or
other objects also enters into the prob
lem. Unlike q thermometer. which is
in shelter protected from direct ana
reflected radiation so far as possible
human beings when out of doors are eN-
posed to these radiations. and their
feeling of heat is affected thereby. IL
has long been known that the energy
of direct insulation Is of great import
ance as china tic factor, independents
ly of the temperature of the air. In
times of calm the air temperature may
even be quite unimportant. Thus on
calm, clear winter days, for example, If
one sits in the sun, he may feel warm
and comfortable while the air temper
allure Is really very low. 1t Is this
climatic factor of direct solar radiation
which is of great value in giving GER
tain high mountain stations. In the
Alps and elsewhere, their reputation as
winter resorts. At Davos Platz. for eX-
ample, and, similarly, in some Of our
own health resorts In Colorado, inval-
ids may sit out in the sun and be conf
Portable on the coolest winter days. Re-
fected heat, as from water or from
a desert surface. or from white wall
also affects ones feeling of heat or
cold. It is evident. then, that the sen
sation OF temperature Is the complex
resultant of many variables, and that
II must necessarily be an individual
matter, for II depends upon so many
physical, and even mental, conditions
which differ in each individual case.
The Sensible temperature so-called,
is essentially nervous sensation. This
being so, It Is also evident that no SIN
gle instrument can possibly give an
indication of the temperature which the
body actually feels.
IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE ALL.
The Importance of finding some ex-
preston for the sensation of temper
ature led Professor Cleveland Able to
suggest that in climatic tables. days
should be classified according TO the
sensation which they produce in the
observer, as for example such feelings
as ''harshness," "rawness," "mildness."
"oppression.' 'chcerfulness." etc. In
1876 ]. w Osborne proposed definite
scale of subjective temperatures TO
be used in such observations, there
being 20 different degrees in the scale,
running from 20. intolerable hot. to /.
unbearably cold Obviously II would
be impossible to have observations Of
this sort comparable, because each OBJ
server would differ so much in his own
feeling of cold and heat, of exhilara-
ton and depression. Prof. Able has
also suggested noting on diagram,
on which relative humidities and tenn
peratures are indicated by the ordin-
ates and abscissae, the points where,
on any day or days, the observer feels
like saying THE weather Is perfect.
In this way he has himself drawn n
diagram which. for winds of varying
velocities shows for him n condition of
temperature and relative humidity
which Is perfectly comfortable. This
method makes 1t possible for each
individual to draw his own personal
diagram OF what Professor Able calls
curves of comfort Curves may, OF
course, also be drawn for conditions of
discomfort such as extreme rawness,
suffocatinG heat, etc.
The temperatures which we feel are
really the complex resultant of many
Variables. The suggestion of New
York newspaper that the weather
bureau, In It's forecasts OF temperature,
should take account of temperature.
wind velocity and humidity. so that
single statement would express just
what people mean when they say that
the day is hot or cold" is absurd or the
face of It. The sensible temperature is
so complex and so Individual that no
such forecast can be made which
would be of any general value what
ever.