284 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



order to produce sweating rapidly, followed 

 by a temperature of about 130° Fahr. during 

 the remainder of the stay in the hot rooms. 

 This the author regards as the best practice 

 for habitual bathers, as perspiration, being 

 once freely established in the hottest room, 

 is kept active by ihe lower degree of heat. 



The investigation was specially directed 

 to the effect produced by immersion in hot, 

 dry air on — 1. The amount of material elim- 

 inated from the body in excess of the nor- 

 mal ; 2. The alteration produced in the 

 temperature of the body; 3. The influence 

 on the pulse-rate ; 4. The influence on the 

 rate of breathing ; 5. The alteration in the 

 composition of the urine ; 6. The compo- 

 sition of the sweat ; and, 7. The arterial 

 tension as sliown by the sphygmograph. 

 The results of the investigation are pre- 

 sented in the form of averages representing 

 a large number of observations. 



Omitting a description of the manner in 

 which the experiments were conducted, and 

 also the detailed results obtained, the fol- 

 lowing are the conclusions drawn by the 

 author from those results. It was shown — 

 1. That a very large quantity of material 

 can be eliminated from the body in a com- 

 paratively short time by immersion in hot, 

 dry air; and, although the greater part of 

 this is water, still solids are present in 

 quantity sufficient to render this a valuable 

 emunctory process ; 2. The temperature of 

 the body and the pulse-rate are markedly 

 raised. The respiration falls at first, but 

 afterward is less influenced than would 

 be expected. The urine is increased in 

 density, and deprived of a large portion of 

 its chlorides, while, if anything, an increase 

 in the amount of urea is produced. Arte- 

 rial tension is increased, due probably to 

 the rapid action of the heart and the gorged 

 condition of the capillary circulation. 



From these the following practical con- 

 siderations as to the use of the Turkish bath 

 in medicine are deduced : Its most impor- 

 tant effect is the stimulation of the emunc- 

 tory action of the skin. By this means we 

 are enabled to wash as it were the solid 

 and fluid tissues, and especially the blood 

 and skin, by passing water through them 

 from within outward to the surface of the 

 body. Hence, in practice, one of the most 

 essential requisites is copious draughts of 

 water during the sweating. 



The elevation of the temperature, and 

 more especially of the pulse-rate and blood- 

 pressure, point to the necessity of caution 

 in cases where the circulatory system is dis- 

 eased. 



Excessively long duration of the bath 

 seems to produce more or less depression, 

 as shown by the fall of the pulse and tem- 

 perature after fifty-five minutes. 



The great advantage of the bath seems 

 to be the power it gives of producing a free 

 action of the skin in persons of sedentary 

 habit, or suffering from disease interfering 

 with fluid excretion, and by its means prob- 

 ably a considerable elimination of morbid 

 matter may also be brought about. Be- 

 sides, and along with this, it is an efficient 

 means, if resorted to sufficiently early, of 

 relieving internal congestion. 



Distributiou of the Electric Light.— A 



recent trial, in San Francisco, of Molera's 

 and Cebrian's system of dividing and dis- 

 tributing the electric light, is thus described 

 in the San Francisco " Morning Call " of Sep- 

 tember 30th : "An exhibition of a new sj^s- 

 tem of utilizing and dividing the electric 

 light, recently discovered by Messrs. Molera 

 and Cebrian, civil engineers, of this city, 

 was given last night at 412 Market Street. 

 Quite a crowd of spectators witnessed the 

 experiments, which had a very satisfactory 

 result. Two floors were well and uniformly 

 lighted by the light obtained from a genera- 

 tor placed in one corner of the upper story 

 of the building. The manner of thus divid- 

 ing the electrical current consists of the use 

 of a system of reflecting mirrors and lenses, 

 which concentrate and conduct the parallel 

 rays or beams of light by the medium of 

 tubes to any desired distance without weak- 

 ening, except in a comparatively small de- 

 gree, its intensity. The main advantages 

 claimed by the inventors for this system 

 arc, that the light may, through the agency 

 of a diffusing lens, be distributed from a 

 single beam throughout all the rooms of a 

 house or hotel, and may be divided without 

 material loss of power. The supply of light 

 is also controlled by the reflector, and in any 

 or all of the rooms the brilliancy of the light 

 may be increased or diminished at will. It 

 is further argued that the system dispenses 

 with the necessity for regulators or lamps, 

 thit the loss consequent upon the use of 



