FRESH AIR AND EFFICIENCY 



The subject of physical efficiency makes an espe- 

 cially urgent claim upon our consideration in these 

 momentous days of strife, and it will continue to do 

 so during the strenuous period of peaceful effort that 

 is to follow them ; therefore it behoves us to prac- 

 tise and to promulgate those precepts that relate to 

 our physical well-being. Foremost amongst these is 

 the precept of fresh air. Indeed, the most striking 

 lesson within the sphere of hygiene that our experience 

 has to teach is the human need for fresh air, and how 

 sensitively the human body reacts to the ceaseless play 

 of its aerial environment. Designed as we were for 

 open-air existence, is it surprising that artificial con- 

 ditions which exclude a sufficiency of what the poet 

 has called "Nature's sweet breath" should prove 

 inimical to our physical efficiency and be attended 

 by the Nemesis of much preventable sickness and 

 premature death? 



I propose, in the first place, to indicate briefly the 

 nature of the past and present evidence of the evil 

 consequences of the lack of fresh air upon health and 

 physical and mental efficiency, and then to consider 

 how foul air operates in producing these results 

 although the latter is a biological problem which has 

 not yet been completely solved. 



So far as the civil community is concerned, the evil 

 consequences of the lack of fresh air are demonstrated 

 by the following facts: 



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