The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-05-30
The Amsricsn climatolosioai Assoc

The American Characterised Asso.
citation. composed OF physicians who
spend much thought on the relations
of climate ana weather to health, VIII
meet at Ola Point, Virginia. this week
The growing acquaintance with the
value OF climates In the treatment OF
disease 10 marked in every community
Nearly every reader has some friend
or acquaintance who has made Jour-
ney TO some region known TO be help
fur in the cure OF tuberculosis or throat
trouble. 4g
Meteoroiosists ngure that the aver
age Temperature Of the wond is about
IS degrees. with q majority OF the
earth's population living In regions
warmer than the average. Before the
nineteenth century the population IN
the cooler Temperature zones was COM
paratively small, but has doubled many
times since then. The scientists claim
that the hairless skin OF the human
being proves that he originated In q
warm climate. seeming 70 lose sight OF
the fact that the monkeys OF the tor
rid zone have always had the hair
covering.
characteristics declare that there 10
nothing true in the theory that our
forefathers wehe healthier than we are
because there were old-fashioned win
ters and summers then. They say that
the decline OF national health must be
traced TO other sources. that there iAs
been no change Ia the average winter
or summer. Since the systematic pre-.
servation OF Temperature and rainfall
records there has been no appreciabls
change anywhere. Some winters are
cooler than others. and sonne summers
dryer than others, but they average
about the same A. they did In the ear
Her days to which the old folk de-
light to bark back.
This IL true In North America az
well as In every other part of the
earth, In the Bible one reads OF how
Abraham. Isaac and Jacob had to light
for watering places for their herds
In that same region today the struggle
still goes on The metoroiogist de-
clare that enlitened man may arr
just his ways 10 a given climate. but
that the climate will never adjust Its
ways to him. A most Interesting and
unique way OF settling the question
Of whether the climate OF country
changes or not was lift upon by q
French elimatoloRist. He tabulated
the dates Of the wine making seasons
In France back to this fourteenth cen
fury. and in ali the ave hundred years
he found no material change in the
climate as shown by those dates. He
did find that the weather 10 inclined
to move in cycles, some years being q
little behind the average date and
others a little ahead OF IT, These back
ward and forward years to occur in
such sequence as to indicate cycles In
the weather. BY some these cycles
were placed at eleven years and by
be established that these cycles do 90
nIr. 1t will be a big feather In the
cap of the long range forecaster.
The work OF the Genealogical As
ISOLATION Is In entire harmony with
that of the Weather Bureau. Some
one has said that tina weather for ass
days makes the climate OF a place. The
nlimatoloRists get their weather data
from the Weather Bureau. and thereby
determine the climate. No other coun-
try approaches the thoroughness with
which Uncle Sam studies the weather.
Spending a million and a half dollars
year to be weather-wise, he IL learn
Ing many secrets OF the atmosphere
that have never been known. His sta
tion at Mt. Weather. on the Blue Ridge
mountains OF Virginia, has been equip
ped with every sort OF instrument hui
man ingenuity can devise to pull down
the secrets OF the upper air. Grown
men ny kites there in q way that
WOuio taAo LhC hS1th Va u Shi@AA wy
Not long ago 4 box-shkpsd kite. car
ryins q KIT OF INSTRUMENTS. was sent
up into the air 23.111 feet--a little
over four miles. One OF the instru-
ments 1t contained was seif-racord-
ing Thermometer. II showed Q tel. !.
perature OF 1ve degrees below zero
ct that elevation, although 1t was not
at all cold on the mountain. Another
instrument was made OF q single hair
from woman's head. All the oil had
heen taken from the hair. and one end
was tied to q stationary strip while
the other had a little fountain pen at.
tached to 1t. This pen was Allied with
non freezing ink. and marked the ex-
pansion and contraction OF the hair
as humidity Interested and decreased.
still another instrument registered the
direction OF the wind and another the
velocity with which It moved. In
studying the temperatures OF the at
mosphere the weather station must
have thermometers which will. regis
ter 100 degrees above freezing and 100
degrees below. In contrast with this
wide range the magnetic laboratory
must have rooms in which the tenn
perature does not vary more than one
tenth of degree the whole year round
Many of the instruments through
which the weather men are trying TO
gain new information about the atmos-
phere and its changes are so delicate
that iron of any kind anywhere in the
neighborhood would adversely affect
their precision. One house had to be
built without windows. Another had
to be constructed without iron or
steel. not even excepting nails. Even
the work horses cannot wear iron