TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION G. 711 



downwards, carrying with it a current of air which strikes the persons seated 

 beneath it. 



This flap of the curtain with punkahs pulled by coolies is only produced on the 

 forward swing, and consequently the backward swing is almost devoid of cooling 

 effect. 



Having briefly sketched the punkah system as at present carried out in India, the 

 author proceeds to indicate how, in course of time, it maybe replaced by machinery. 

 The system which the author proposes to describe is that which has been advocated 

 for some years by Captain Palliser. 



In this system the coolie is replaced by a small machine actuated by com- 

 pressed air. 



The machine is attached to the wall of the room in which a row of punkahs 

 are required, and connected to them by means of light bamboo canes. 



Immediately upon the compressed air being admitted to the machine, the pun- 

 kahs begin to oscillate, and a jerk is imparted to them both on the forward and 

 backward swing.* 



In this system, as applied to large barracks, cantonments, or other large buildings 

 in India, the air is to be compressed at a central station by means of a steam-engine, 

 and transmitted through cast-iron pipes to the various buildings where punkahs are 

 required. 



The author now proposes to pass on to consider a few points connected with the 

 proper ventilation of buildings in hot climates. 



In hot climates where there happens to be no breeze and a broiling sun, the 

 temperature of the houses becomes the same as that of the external air, and when 

 this is the case the air within becomes exceedingly foul, in consequence of no cir- 

 culation being maintained. 



In order to remedy this defect, fans, termed in India " Thermantidotes,'' are 

 worked at the present time by coolies. These fans, which are generally situated 

 within the houses, draw in the external air through mats made of "Khus Khus," 

 called in India " Tattees." The preat disadvantage of the " Thermantidote " is the 

 chilling draught which it very often produces. 



After much consultation with Captain Palliser the author has designed a venti- 

 lator which is also actuated by compressed air, and which is intended to be placed 

 in the ceilings of buildings where a thorough system of ventilation is required, 

 whether in India or other countries where the climate is more temperate. 



This ventilator consists of a fan revolving on a vertical axis. Attached to this 

 axis is a small engine of very peculiar construction, into which is admitted high- 

 pressure air, similar to that used for working the punkah machines. Immediately 

 upon the air being admitted, the ventilator begins to rotate, and the foul air is 

 removed from the ceiling where it had collected. 



This system of ventilation is similar in principle to that now in use in the 

 Houses of Parliament in London, where no expense has been spared to ensure 

 success. 



This last system of ventilation which the author has described could be applied 

 with much advantage to buildings such as law and police courts, where the atmo- 

 sphere is usually exceedingly unpleasant. 



The author has carefully gone into the cost of working punkahs by the method 

 already explained, and it seems perfectly clear to him that, where a system similar 

 to that already described is carried out upon a tolerably large scale, it will prove a 

 decided financial success. 



This question is a very important one, both in a sanitary, and also in a financial 

 point of view to the Indian Government, inasmuch as last year it cost them £47,000 

 in coolie hire to supply the hospitals and barracks with punkah power. 



The author is glad" to be able to state that the Indian Government are fully 

 alive to the importance of the question, and have recommended a trial of the above 

 system to the Government in India.* 



* For a full description of the machine employed, and of the details of the 

 pneumatic punkah system, ride pamphlet by the Hon. K. C. Parsons, published by 

 Messrs. E. k. F. N. Spon, London. 



