188 THE HYGIENE OF RESPIRATION 



In the New England coast regions, where the extreme 

 ranges in humidity and temperature make the climate 

 like that of almost all other countries in rapid turn, it 

 is necessary to supply moisture only in the clear cold 

 weather when the natural moisture of the air is 

 frozen out. 



Drafts. One of the greatest difficulties in the way of 

 proper ventilation is a very prevalent fear of drafts. 

 This fear has survived in undiminished strength in spite 

 of the fact that many diseases, notably pneumonia, which 

 were formerly thought *to be directly traceable to them, 

 have been proved to have quite a different origin in the 

 invasion of the system by microbes. It is probably true 

 that the exposure to a draft of a limited portion of the 

 body's surface, such as the back of the neck, the wrist, 

 or the ankles, may result in a catarrhal condition of 

 the mucous membranes, especially of the nose and throat, 

 and the development of microbes on their surface be 

 favored thereby. There is every reason to believe, how- 

 ever, that in many of these cases the results are due not 

 so much to exposure to drafts as to the irritation from 

 breathing microbe-laden dust. 



Relation of clothing to ventilation. Even were 

 drafts, however, responsible for all the ills attributed to 

 them, the sensible thing to do would be to protect the 

 body by proper clothing so that we could have fresh air 

 without injury. In recent years, there has been a grow- 

 ing and most unfortunate tendency in quite the oppo- 

 site direction. Women and girls especially are dressing 

 more and more thinly, in total disregard of season or 

 climate, and, as a result, they are forced for comfort to 

 keep their houses overheated. Adequate clothing is a 

 most important aid to ventilation. It is the cheapest way 

 of securing comfort with proper ventilation in cold 



