August 11, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



185 



Commission on Ventilation, 3 which has been 

 in progress for the past two and one half 

 years and is not yet completed. 



Notwithstanding that man is supposed to 

 be a homothermal organism, there is a cer. 

 tain relationship between his bodily tem- 

 perature and the temperature of his envi- 

 ronment, even under the ordinary condi- 

 tions of living. This has been shown by 

 the New York Commission, which found 

 that during the months of June and July 

 the rectal temperature of its subjects at 

 8 a.m., living in their own homes, was con- 

 ditioned by the average atmospheric tem- 

 perature of the preceding night. If the 

 night had been warm the bodily tempera- 

 ture in the morning was high; if cool, the 

 bodily temperature was low. The varia- 

 tion of bodily temperature was about 0.55 

 degrees C. (1 degree P.) for 20 degrees of 

 atmospheric temperature, although it is 

 probable that the degree of variation can 

 be modified by the clothing. The commis- 

 sion further found that, whatever the 

 bodily temperature of its subjects might be 

 at the beginning of an experiment, it was 

 lowered by confinement in an atmosphere 

 of 20° C. (68° F.) and 50 per cent, rela- 

 tive humidity, and raised by confinement 

 at 23.9° C. (75° F.) with the same humid- 

 ity, or still more by 30° C. (86° F.) with 

 80 per cent, humidity. The final average 

 bodily temperatures in certain series of ob- 

 servations, where the subjects were con- 

 fined in the observation chamber for from 

 4 to 7 hours were as follows: 

 After 20° C. (68° E.), 50 per cent, humidity, the 



average bodily temperature was 36.7° C. 



(98° F.). 



s C.-E. A. Winslow (chairman), D. D. Kimball, 

 Frederic S. Lee, J. A. Miller, Earle B. Phelps, E. 

 L. Thorndike and G. T. Palmer (chief of investi- 

 gating staff). The results of their investigations 

 have yet been published only in part. Eor a gen- 

 eral presentation of some of the results see Am. 

 Jour, of Public Health, V., 85, 1915. 



After 23.9° O. (75° E.), 50 per cent, humidity, the 



average bodily temperature was 36.9° C. 



(98.5° F.). 

 After 30° C. (86° E.), 80 per cent, humidity, the 



average bodily temperature was 37.4° C. 



(99.3° P.). 



Haldane* and others have shown a 

 greater elevation of bodily temperature in 

 more extreme atmospheric conditions, and 

 have pointed out the accompanying dangers 

 of heat stroke. Eastman and I have seen 

 the temperature of a normal adult man 

 rise 3.3° C. (6° F.) during a stay of three 

 and one quarter hours in an atmosphere 

 averaging 40.4° C. (104.7° F.) in tempera- 

 ture and 95 per cent, in relative humidity. 

 The relation between bodily temperature 

 and external cold has not been so fully 

 studied, but enough is known to warrant 

 the statement that, in normal individuals at 

 least, the bodily temperature can be to a 

 considerable degree controlled by controll- 

 ing the temperature and the humidity of 

 the surrounding air. It is altogether prob- 

 able that the same is largely true in febrile 

 diseases. 



External temperature exerts likewise a 

 definite effect on the circulatory system. 

 The rate of the heart beat is increased in 

 warm, humid, and decreased in cool, dry air. 

 The New York Commission found the aver- 

 age rate of its subjects confined in an 

 atmosphere of 30° C. (86° F.) and 80 per 

 cent, relative humidity to be 74, and in an 

 atmosphere of 20° C. (68° F.) and 50 

 per cent, humidity to be 66. Eastman and 

 I have seen the pulse rate increase by 39 — 

 from 67 to 106 — as the temperature of the 

 air surrounding the subject rose from 23.3° 

 to 43.3° C. (74° to 110° F.) and the humid- 

 ity from 58 to 90 per cent. 



The important and involved topic of the 



* Haldane, Jour. Eyg., V., 494, 1905. Haldane, 

 Pembrey, Collis, Boycott and Cadman, Bep. Dept. 

 Com. on Humidity and Ventilation in Cotton 

 Weaving Sheds, London, 1909 and 1911. 



