710 REPORT— 1878. 



summer temperature is about 58°, which is just the lowest at which cereals 'will 

 ripen. For draining bogs wind power is specially applicable, from the fact that 

 the bog, once dried, becomes like a dry sponge ; so that if wind ceased even for 

 weeks, the surface waters would not appear, but be at once absorbed ; as to drain- 

 age by pumping, even when steam is used, the cost is not formidable. Mr. J. 

 Woodward Stanford owns a property of 2200 acres of slob land south of Wex- 

 ford Harbour, now drained by steam power, averaging one horse power for every 

 244 acres. It may be safely taken, allowing for intermittent work, that a one horse 

 power wind engine would drain 100 acres from the natural rainfall. There are 

 numerous sites for wind engines in Ireland, the interior being flat and free from 

 trees ; the velocity of the wind is high, averaging fourteen miles per hour. 



Very portable wiud engines and others of large dimensions, having all necessary 

 improvements, are manufactured by Messrs. John Warner and Sons, of Crescent 

 Foundry, Cripplegate, who also furnish all pumps and appliances for raising water, 

 their noria or chain of tumbling buckets being very suitable for drainage ; also their 

 Archimedean screw suits wind-power well. American wind engines of very simple 

 construction were exhibited by Messrs. McKenzie and Sons, of Daw-son Street, in 

 Dublin, at the last Agricultural Show held in this city, they were made by the 

 United States Wind-engine and Pump Company of Batavia, Illinois. These range 

 from 8 to 60 feet in diameter, and are of an annular form, somewhat like Messrs. 

 Warner's ; they are much used in America for farm purposes and lifting water. 



2. A System of Ventilation by Means of Fans and Punlahs worked by Com- 

 pressed Air for use in Hospitals and Barracks in India and other 

 Tropical Climates. By the Hon. R. C. Parsons. 



Many here are no doubt aware how extensively the punkah is used in India, and 

 that among the European inhabitants it is characterised as essential to the pre- 

 servation of health. The form of punkah which (especially among 1 the medical 

 authorities) is considered the most effective is that known as the " Pole Punkah.'' 

 This consists of a heavy wooden pole about 10 feet long from which a, curtain of 

 coarse canvas covered with calico is attached. This pole, with its curtain, which is 

 about three feet deep, is then suspended from the ceiling of the apartment in which 

 it is required, and it is ready for use. 



In the case of hospital wards the punkahs are generally worked in sets of from 

 four to six in a row placed parallel to each other. The coolie whose duty it is to 

 pull the set of punkahs is placed at the end of the row, and by meaDS of light 

 cords which attach the punkahs to each other keeps up a swinging motion through- 

 out the line. 



Working in spells of two hours at a time, two or three relays of coolies main- 

 tain more or less a constant swinging in a set of punkahs throughout the hot 

 season, which, on an average, extends from the months of March to October in- 

 clusive. 



But the great difficulty which has always been experienced is the very natural 

 offence of the coolie going to sleep at night, when most needed. The great evils 

 arising from this oflence are the chills w Inch are produced-by an intermittent action 

 of the punkahs, which, after they have been repeated upon Europeans several times, 

 frequently terminate in attacks of fever. 



The cooling action of the punkah depends entirely upon the agitation of the air 

 in its vicinity, and also, as a matter of course, upon the evaporation of the perspi- 

 ration from the bodies of the human beings situated near it; consequently its cool- 

 ing action ceases whenever the surrounding air is charged with moisture, which is 

 often the case »t particular seasons. In order that the punkah shall produce its 

 full effect, it is absolutely necessary that the pole from which the curtain bangs 

 shall receive a sudden jerk at the commencement of the swing, so as to raise the 

 curtain more or less into a horizontal position ; the punkah should then move on 

 to the end of its swing at a regular speed, during which time the curtain flaps 



