6o SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 63 



resolution foretells a revolution in treatment." That revolution is, 

 fortunately, to-day un fait accompli. 



Some of the European sanatoria of the best grade are in situations 

 not altogether free from fogs and mists. This is true of Falkenstein, 

 elevation 1,378 feet (420 m.), w^hose atmosphere is a little misty 

 and foggy. 



AIR OF INLAND SEAS AND LAKES 



The region of the Great Lakes lying between the United States 

 and Canada has been studiously avoided in selecting a site for any 

 of the large sanatoria for tuberculosis. It is a matter of common 

 observation that nasal, pharyngeal, and bronchial catarrhs are exceed- 

 ingly common in adjacent districts. The lake winds are damp and 

 are partly frozen during several months in the year, giving to the 

 surrounding country a harsh climate. 



The lower lake region is also the favorite track of storms or 

 cyclonic atmospheric movements which sweep the lakes and the 

 St. Lawrence valley on their way to the seaboard. As these areas 

 of low atmospheric pressure advance they are attended by increas- 

 ing cloudiness in front and are usually followed by colder air from 

 the Northwest, the fall in temperature being sufficient at times to 

 constitute a cold wave.^ 



The winter storms on the Great Lakes are quite as violent as any 

 on the seacoast, and on Lake Superior and Lake Huron floating 

 ice may be seen in May and sometimes, in Lake Superior, as late 

 as June. Lakes Michigan, Erie and Ontario are more southerly, but 

 their shores are low and the skies are notably cloudy. The author 

 has experience of the cold fogs of Lake Superior in July and 

 August, and was impressed with their penetrating quality. A sum- 

 mer spent on both the northern and southern shores of Lake Supe- 

 rior was wonderfully exhilarating ; the air has a purity and stimulus 

 such as one might expect from millions of miles of forest round- 

 about. But not a single place on that vast shore can be recommended 

 as a residence for a tuberculous patient. The vicissitudes of the 

 weather are such that the approved methods of cure could not well 

 be carried out. 



'Trans. Nat'l Ass. for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis, 1906. 



^To constitute a cold wave, so called, there must be a fall of twenty degrees 

 or more in twenty-four hours, free of diurnal range and extending over an 

 area of at least 50,000 square miles, the temperature somewhere in the area 

 going as low as 36° F. 



