110 GIBBS. 



Schilling" states that, for protection for the body against the heat of 

 contact"^ of the air, the clothing need not be considered, since all clothing 

 niaterials are better conductors of the heat than the air. This is undoubt- 

 edly true in the Philippines and other parts of the Tropics which have 

 come under my observation. However, I have heard of conditions in 

 deserts where there are currents of highly heated air, in which case 

 clothing would be a protection in so much that the movement of hot air 

 would be retarded and its temperature somewhat reduced before reaching 

 the skin. The protection from hot air carrying dust and sand particles 

 would undoubtedly be necessary, but this is another consideration. 



The natural tendency and custom in the Tropics are to keep 

 out of the direct rays of the sun and seek shade, during the 

 middle of the day. Within the shade created either by natural 

 or artificial means, the thinner the clothing and the fewer the 

 garments worn, the better. The experimental evidence upon 

 this point with monkeys and rabbits is conclusive and shows 

 that in the shade the skin temperature remains practically con- 

 stant below that of the blood, while in the sun, temperatures 

 above that of the blood are not uncommon in men and ensue in 

 the animals with fatal results. ^^ 



The ill effect of light upon the eyes I believe is to be accounted 

 for not so much by the ultra-violet as by the general glare of 

 the reflected light. The direct rays of the sun are, of course, 

 very disagreeable and injurious in all latitudes, but are so instinc- 

 tively avoided that they seldom strike the retina and, therefore, 

 need only this passing mention. The glare in the lowlands out- 

 side of cities in the Philippines, is not so much due to the light 

 reflected from the surface of the earth, which is usually more 

 or less covered with vegetation and which reflects the longer 

 waves of the spectrum to a far greater extent than the shorter 

 wave lengths, as it is to reflections from the sky.^^ In the low- 

 lands, the sky reflection is very different from that encountered 

 in the mountains. In Baguio, for example, I have observed that 

 the clear, blue sky, so notable during a considerable portion of the 

 year, is seldom disagreeable to the eyes, even though the intensity 

 of the sunlight is greater than in lower altitudes. Here, the 

 reflected sky-light is less throughout the visible portion of the 



^'Ibid., 159. 



" The italics are mine. * 



" The experiments with clothing in Baguio are incomplete because, when 

 they were begun, it was impossible to secure clear days. 



"** In extreme northern and southern latitudes the evil effects of the 

 glare from snow fields, even when the direct sunlight is near its minimum, 

 horizontal intensity due to the low altitude of the sun in winter, are well 

 known. 



