RELATIONS OF CLIMATE AND LIFE 101 



MOSYSTALTIC. The adaptation of the body temperature to that of 

 the environment is PECILOTHERMAL. A morbid dread of heat is 

 THERMOPHOBIA. The determination of the direction or rate of 

 locomotion by heat is called THERMOTAXIS and movement brought 

 about by heat is THERMOTROPISM. 



As the temperatures increase sluggishness increases until sleep or 

 inactivity is induced and this condition once known as aestivation or 

 summer rest may better be known as THERMANESTHESIA or insensi- 

 bility caused by heat. 



The point at which anesthesia begins at any given humidity is the 

 upper boundary of the thermopractic or effective zone. Phose tempera- 

 tures at which successful Thermanesthesia may be experienced embrace 

 the UPPER ZONE OF INACTIVITY, or the ZONE OF THERM- 

 ANESTHESIA. This quickly merges into those high temperatures which 

 may with sufficient duration of time cause death, and finally, those tem- 

 peratures which are absolutely fatal under all conditions. The highest 

 zone is therefore the UPPER ZONE OF FATAL TEMPERATURES. 

 Death from heat is known as THERMOPLEGIA, or heat stroke. 



Most investigators have stopped with a more or less hazy acknowledg- 

 ment of the existence of these various zones of reactions on the ascend- 

 ing scale of the thermometer, but the literature contains few references 

 to similar zones of reactions on the scale of relative humidity, llowever, 

 if we stop to think we must acknowledge that similar reactions do take 

 place. 



We may have death from absolute dryness at almost any tempera- 

 ture, in other words, we have a condition which is called APOXERAE- 

 NOSIS, or drying up. At very low humidities one may become insensi- 

 ble and thus we have XERANESTHESIA. Likewise, a little higher 

 humidity induces sluggishness or a state of XERONOCHELIA. We 

 have most of us experienced this condition of stupidity in a living room 

 at normal temperatures in the winter due to lack of sufficient moisture. 

 So also there is the humidity which enables each individual to accom- 

 plish the greatest results in the least time with the least amount of 

 exhaustion and this is the PRACTICOTATUM. With increase of 

 humidity the activity lessens until an excessively humid atmosphere 

 brings about HYGRONOCHELIA or sluggishness due to moisture ; then 

 HYGRANESTHESIA may be experienced by some species and finally 

 death due to excessive moisture or HYGROPLEGIA. 



This makes it obvious therefore that when we plot the reactions 

 of a species to temperature and humidity, we are likely to find a series 

 of closed figures delineating concentric zones of fatal, inactive, active 

 and optimum conditions. Thus it is apparent that Rhigoplegia, 

 Apoxeraeriosis, Thermoplegia, and Hygroplegia form a single zone of 



