[STARKEY à BARNES] DEFICIENT HUMIDITY OF THE ATMOSPHERE 20S 



CASES IN POINT : 



(1) A. B., arrived in Canada late in the year, and during the winter 

 Buffered greatly from congestion of the nose and throat, and to a less 

 extent of the bronchial passages. 



The air of the rooms which he occupied was suspected, but chemical 

 analysis showed its composition to be fairly good. The COo^.OT per- 

 cent; the air in the rooms where he spent most of the day showed 

 CO2=.08 to .09 per cent, but the symptoms of congestion never developed 

 there, consequently vitiation by excess of CO. could not account for the 

 trouble. 



On testing the relative humidity it was found to be very low, on an 

 average 40 to 50 per cent. 



The symptoms of congestion always disappeared rapidly when the 

 individual went outdoors. Keeping the windows open regularly pre- 

 vented the congestion. 



(2) Other cases of a like nature were found: 



"Stuffiness of the nose and throat" was an expression commonly 

 applied. " A feeling of tension between the eyes " (evidently congestion 

 of the frontal sinus), also "irritation spreading through to the ears," 

 were descriptions given by not a few. 



In several of these instances air in their houses was examined : The 

 CO, was never found to be much, if at all, above the normal .06 per cent 

 — the other chemical constituents normal — but in all cases the Relative 

 Humidity was low, never exceeding 50 per cent., — generally about 40 

 per cent. — lowest record, 35.8 per cent. 



(3) The case of a family in which there were five children, three 

 boys and two girls, ranging from three to ten years. They had returned 

 to town after a stay in the country during the summer. The boys 

 quickly began to lose tone as the winter came on. They all exhibited 

 congestion of the nose and throat of a chronic nature. The two little 

 girls continued well. It was found that the girls slept in a room where 

 the windows were kept open night and day, but not so the boys. 



Chemical examination in the different rooms showed no material 

 increase of the CO,, or the presence of other deleterious constituents. 

 The relative humidity was about 40 percent. In the boys' room a mini- 

 mum of 38 per cent was obtained. In the girls' room the relative 

 humidity averaged 50 to 55 per cent. 



Fresh air was admitted by open windows to the boys' rooms and 

 they showed signs of improvement immediately and are now quite well. 



Dr. Birkett, of Montreal, a specialist on the nose and throat fully 

 bears out the arguments brought forward above, for in his extensive 



