ORANGE-RED UNDERWEAR. 545 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS. 



Before pronouncing judgment upon the results of this experiment, 

 it will be necessary to bring together and coordinate the evidence presented 

 heretofore. It can be conceded at once that orange-red underclothing 

 protects the body from the chemical rays of the sun, at least for those 

 rays that act upon the photographic plates. As to the change in color 

 due to fading, this was extreme only where the clothing was exposed 

 to direct sunlight and on the whole was not so great as to interfere 

 with the success of the test. This fading undoubtedly created a prej- 

 udice against the underwear, as after a few washings its bizarre coloring 

 could not fail to outrage the sensibilities of the wearer. 



In comparing the results of the various tests made, the following 

 evidence is adduced: 



(a) There is a loss of weight in both groups, greater by. nearly a 

 pound per man in the hot season for the special group.' 



(&) Blood examinations show the two changes due to tropical cli- 

 mate — increase of red cells and loss of haemoglobin — more pronounced 

 in the special group than in the white. 



(c) Blood pressure shows a fall in both groups during the hot and 

 rainy seasons with a return to about normal in the cool of December. 

 The loss is greater during the middle of the year for the special group 

 than for the white. 



(d) Temperature, pulse and respiration all show a slightly higher 

 rate for the special group than for the white. The differences are so 

 slight that taken singly they would have no significance, but together 

 with the rest of the tests, they are suggestive of more than accident. 



(e) The evidence adduced from the comparative sick reports is neg- 

 ligible except that admissions from heat exhaustion and febricula, most of 

 the latter probably due to heat, were not reduced by wearing the special 

 underwear. 



(/) Symptoms due to heat about balance in the two groups, so that 

 there was apparently no benefit derived by the special group. 



(g) After giving due weight to the prejudice against the clothing, 

 the persistent complaints of greater heat, greater weight and increased 

 perspiration lead to the conclusion that the colored garments are more 

 receptive to heat rays than are the white. The experiments recorded 

 above support this view. 



The physiological effects of the climate here shown in loss of weight, 

 lowered blood pressure and increase in temperature, pulse and respira- 

 tion, have been reproduced experimentally in an exaggerated degree by 

 the influence of moist heat without the aid of the sun's rays. That these 

 effects can so constantly be produced can not be questioned. On the 

 other hand, there is no evidence that these effects can be brought about 

 by the sun's rays alone, and ordinary experience teaches us that they are 

 not so produced. It is a strongly suggestive fact that the stress of the 

 climate, as evidenced by loss of weight, depressed blood pressure, in- 



