No. 4.] STABLE VENTILATION. 129 



August is filled with new hay, and the air would naturally 

 be damp ; it would be much more damp than in a dwelling- 

 house. Of course we all know that moist air is a better 

 conductor of electricity than dry air. 



Mr. Geo. M. Whitaker (of Boston). On the question 

 of barns being struck by lightning, I took occasion to consult 

 Captain Brophy. He informed me that in his opinion there 

 was no danger from ventilators and cupolas, whether opened 

 or closed. It was a popular opinion that it made a dif- 

 t^rence, but it had no basis on scientific fact. I merely 

 repeat his opinion, without pretending to know anything 

 about it. 



Mr. Ware. I would like to refer back a little to an illus- 

 tration that involves to my mind a very important principle 

 of ventilation. I think it was in picture No. 20 of the Smith 

 system of ventilation. The picture represented a column of 

 warm air outside of the room, with an opening at the bottom 

 and one at the top. The warm air was supposed to enter at 

 the top and go across the room where you had illustrated the 

 breathing line, and go down to the bottom, taking the whole 

 of the air from the top to the bottom. I suppose the room 

 was intended to be warmed by that warm air that came in for 

 circulation. While it seemed to have a perfect eflect on one 

 end of the room as the picture represented, would it affect 

 the other end of the room ? 



Dr. Paige. It is supposed to, and I think it would. 



INIr. Ware. This system shows that you get the best 

 circulation by having the relative position of inlet and outlet 

 as represented by that drawing? 



Dr. Paige. Yes. 



Mr. Ware. That seems very rational. My point was, 

 whether there would be the desired effect in both ends of the 

 room. 



Dr. Paige. I think there would be. In a very large 

 building you would have more than one inlet and more than 

 one outlet. 



Mr. Parker. There is one point I wish to speak of. 

 About two 3'ears ago I constructed a cow barn, running it at 

 right angles with the main barn and running it east and west. 

 I have congratulated m3'self ever since that it ran cast and 

 west. The doctor says it should run north and south. The 



