NO. 2T, INFLUENCE OF ATMOSPHERE ON HEALTH 83 



days in January and February in seven rooms. At the beginning 

 of school the temperature was over 22 ° C. (71. 5 F.) in 3 class- 

 rooms 8 times, in one 10 times, in one 13 times, in one 16 times, in 

 one 18 times. The temperature frequently reached 24 C. (75 F.), 

 and even 26.5 C. (8o° F.). When the windows were opened it 

 fell to 14 or 13 C. (57 F.), a variation of over io° C. (18 F.). 

 Fliigge says that the temperature of a public room should never be 

 allowed to go above 21 ° C. (70 F.) because of the increased water 

 vapor in the atmosphere produced by evaporation from the bodies 

 of the occupants. He says that thermometers should be placed in 

 every public room SO' that people can protest if the temperature ex- 

 ceeds 19 to 20 C. (66° to 68° F.). For a man wearing the usual 

 clothing and keeping quiet a temperature of 13 to 15 C. (55 to 

 59 F.) suffices. In trains in winter, when warm overclothing is 

 worn, io° to 12 C. (50 to 53 F.) is enough. 



We are of the opinion that 6o° F. should be the highest temperature 

 tolerated except for the old and infirm. The old should work in a 

 different room and not compel the young to live in rooms heated to 

 a tender-plant temperature. 



The temperature of a school-room must be regulated by a ther- 

 mometer, not by the feelings of the teacher. 1 The reduction in the 

 number of scholars and the periodic emptying and blowing out of 

 the room is the best way of avoiding heat stagnation. 



Individual weaklings who suffer from the cold must put on more 

 clothing. The absurd decolletee dress of women must not be made 

 an excuse for high temperatures in rooms which are set aside for 

 social functions. 



Fliigge points out that the great infant mortality occurs in the 

 hottest summer weather. The child should be protected from heat 

 stagnation by the cooling of its food, and exposure to open air dur- 

 ing the cool parts of the day and night. 



We may remind the reader that by absolute humidity is meant the 

 amount of water in the air per cubic foot ; by relative humidity, the 

 percentage that this water is of the amount which the air can hold at 

 the same temperature when saturated. The amount of water vapor 

 varies with the temperature, but is uninfluenced by the pressure of the 



1 The thermometer does not show the rate of heat loss, which is the impor- 

 tant thing in relation to body heat stagnation. One of us (L. II.) has recently 

 invented kata-thermomctcrs, which are empirically graduated and show the 

 proper rate of heat loss in school rooms, factories, etc. See Lancet, May 10, 

 1913, p. 1290. 



