214 THE HUMAN MECHANISM 



atmosphere is as high as that of the body (98.6 F.), no further 

 heat can be lost by conduction and radiation; and that above 

 98.6 F. heat is conducted and radiated to the body, not from it. 

 Furthermore, the greater the distance of the colder object from 

 the body, the less heat will the body lose to it. Here heat loss 

 takes place inversely as the square of the distance ; that is, when 

 we are twice as far away from a cold (closed) window, we lose 

 only one fourth as much heat through it by radiation ; if we are 

 three times as far away, we lose only one ninth as much, and 

 so on. Consequently we rapidly diminish radiation from our 

 bodies by sitting farther away from the walls of a room ; and it 

 is important to have our living rooms large enough to make it 

 unnecessary to sit near the windows or near a cold outer wall 

 in very cold weather. 



