NO. I AIR AND TUBERCULOSIS — HINSDALE 4I 



The atmosphere has a bracing quahty and is always credited with 

 developing a prodigious appetite. It is pointed out that a taste is 

 developed for the kind of food the tuberculous patient needs, viz., 

 fatty food and meat. The craving for this kind of food is usually 

 accompanied by a corresponding adaptability to digest it and, in 

 healthy subjects, flesh is always gained. Dr. Sohon says that in 

 both of his trips to Greenland he has exceeded his usual maximum 

 weight, gaining the first time thirty pounds in two months, and the 

 second time nineteen pounds in six weeks. In the latter voyage 

 even the crew made an average gain of ten pounds in weight. 



A large share of the beneficial influence of any atmospheric 

 change is that which conduces to a good appetite and digestion. 

 In this respect the summer Arctic voyage may fairly claim pre- 

 eminence. With qualities such as these it is natural that, for a por- 

 tion of the year at least, the merits of the Arctic climate in the treat- 

 ment of tuberculosis should at least be considered. 



An atmospheric feature is its great penetrability for light and 

 especially for the actinic and ultra-violet rays. Tanning of the skin 

 always occurs and sunburn is not uncommon. During summer 

 the sun never sets and, though not very high in the heavens, its 

 generous rays must exert a very beneficial influence on any morbid 

 process, especially of a tubercular type. Arctic plants develop rap- 

 idly from seed to flower and seed again in surprising manner and 

 the wild animals seem to be the largest and most vigorous of their 

 kind. 



In judging of the weather to be encountered in the Arctic regions, 

 we are too much inclined to recall the harrowing accounts of the 

 ill-fated expeditions of the past; but in the Northern fjords of 

 Greenland, some miles from the coast, or in the protected inland 

 bays, the atmospheric conditions of summer are quite agreeable 

 and are especially suitable for the open air treatment. 



The fluctuations of temperature are very moderate. The average 

 minimum temperature between July 28 and September 6, between 

 69° and 78° north latitude on these Greenland Fjords, was about 

 38 F. ; the average maximum was 49° to 50°. Temperatures as 

 high as 56° were recorded at North Star Bay and about 52° at Etah. 



The humidity averaged low. The records were made at 8 a. m. 

 and 8 p. m., and, owing to the constant daylight, are much more 

 representative estimates of relative humidity than in the case of 

 records of relative humidity at those same hours in temperate lati- 

 tudes. 



