Climate 



EDWARD C. SCHNEIDER 



MIDDLETOWJT 



The old view which placed the influence of climate upon health above 

 all other factors has very largely been replaced by the view that good 

 hygiene is the all-important health factor. Doubtless careful and intelli- 

 gent attention to hygiene is more important than climate, and every health 

 seeker should realize that "care without climate is better than climate 

 without care." However, the influence of climate is by no means to be 

 disregarded. The pendulum has swung too far to the side of hygienic 

 living. It must be admitted that even though the health seeker recognizes 

 that the results of following the simple rules of hygiene are restored health, 

 and possibly high efficiency ; yet the average individual finds these simple 

 things irksome, and that it requires strength of mind to follow them, day 

 in and day out. Climate affects our bodily comforts and causes physio- 

 logical changes which may play an important part in the curative process. 

 Huntington has demonstrated that human efficiency, as tested by the 

 amount of daily work performed, is determined by physical atmospheric 

 conditions and that the development of the human race is controlled by 

 climate. "Man can apparently live in any region where he can obtain 

 food, but his physical and mental energy and his moral character reach 

 their highest development only in a few restricted limited areas." 



Climate, as ordinarily defined, is the resultant of the average atmos- 

 pheric conditions, considered daily, monthly and annually. It is made up 

 of temperature (including radiation) ; moisture (including humidity, pre- 

 cipitation and cloudiness); wind (including storms); pressure; evapora- 

 tion; and also, but of less importance, the chemical, optical and electrical 

 properties of the atmosphere. It is only recently that definite progress 

 in our knowledge of the physiological action of atmospheric conditions has 

 been made. Even now this knowledge is fragmentary; so that medical 

 climatology, which deals with the hygienic effects of climate, is still far 

 from being anything like an exact science. 



The physical influences that cause physiological changes are tem- 

 perature, humidity, air movement and pressure, as met at high altitudes. 

 Light has apparently been found to be a minor factor. The physiological 



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