Notes and Memoranda. 231 



Me. Glaisher's Balloon Ascent. — The second scientific ascent of this year 

 took place on September 5, and the descent was safely effected near Ludlow. 

 The aeronauts passed through 2000 feet of cloud saturated with moisture, above 

 which the air was clear. At three miles above the earth a pigeon was let loose, 

 but could not fly, and dropped like a stone. Two others were similarly affected, 

 but at four miles high a fourth managed to get to the top of the balloon. At five 

 miles Mr. Glaisher felt symptoms of blindness, and the thermometer was 37° 

 below the freezing point. He afterwards saw the barometer at ten inches, indi- 

 cating 5| miles, but was unable to register it, and he shortly became unconscious. 

 Mr, Coxwell retained his faculties, and ascended for another ten minutes, the 

 aneroid indicating about six miles. Mr. Coxwell then felt faint, and his hands were 

 powerless, so that he had to pull the valve with his teeth, and the balloon com- 

 menced its descent. At five miles the air was perfectly dry, and at the greatest 

 elevation the temperature seemed as low as 44° below freezing, but Mr. Grlaisher 

 did not read the index until he was out of the car, and it may probably have been 

 disturbed. As the balloon descended, Mr. Glaisher recovered, and recommenced 

 his scientific labours, having reached a far greater height than was ever before 

 attained. 



A New Application of the Theemometeb. — Every one accustomed to 

 the use of the thermometer must be familiar with the fact that it gives no account 

 of the effects of various temperatures, draughts, and damp upon the sensations. 

 During the last great balloon ascent of Mr. Glaisher, a temperature of 17° was 

 felt to be warm, because the voyagers had just quitted a region where the instru- 

 ment registered some degrees below zero. So in leaving a room heated to 80° or 

 90°, a temperature of 60° will be felt to be cold. It is one of the advantages of 

 the thermometer that it has no sensations, yet it would be an advantage if we 

 could sometimes use it to measure the magnitude of those influences which affect 

 sensation as to heat and cold, and the mode of so using it is very simple. A few 

 years since Dr. Jonathan Osborne communicated to the British Association some 

 experiments on the use of a heated thermometer as a means of instructing the 

 physician as to the influence of climate on health, but the subject was neglected, 

 and he has again called attention to it in an essay on the subject in the Dublin 

 Quarterly Journal of Medical Science. One use of the heated thermometer is to 

 explain the difference observed in the effect on invalids of climates having similar 

 thermometrical characteristics Thus the western coast of Ireland has a mild and 

 genial climate if tested by the thermometer only, yet the trees are stunted in their 

 growth by the constant wind blowing from the Atlantic, and invalids do not reap 

 such advantages from a residence there as would be predicated by trusting to the 

 thermometer only. So, during a severe frost, if the air is still, the cold is not 

 much felt, but if there is a moderate breeze or a gale, even with a moderate rise 

 of the thermometer, the sensation of cold is keenly felt, and, in point of fact, as 

 regards health and comfort, the temperature is lower, though the thermometer 

 says differently. In Petersburg, during the greatest severity of the winter, the 

 drivers of public vehicles are bound to be at their stands, but if there is a wind, 

 they may stay at home, for the cooling effect of wind might then prove fatal. The 

 author thus describes the principle on which the use of the heated thermometer 

 depends:— "The bulb being heated up to 90° Fahr., represents the heat of the 

 surface of the human body ; when in this state it is exposed to a cooler medium, 

 whether air or water, or mixture of both as moist air, and allowed to cool to 

 80° Fahr., the time for cooling these ten degrees represents (inversely) the cooling 

 power exerted by that medium, whatever it may be, or however applied. This 

 cooling power is derived from other agencies besides difference of temperature, as 

 from radiation of the neighbouring objects, conducting power of the surrounding 

 medium, and more especially from currents causing various proportions of it 

 to be brought into contact with the heated body within a given time. How 

 these agencies have their combined results exhibited in the degree of rapidity 

 with which the cooling is effected. Placed, as we are, in a medium with 

 few exceptions, always below 80% we are constantly undergoing a process 

 of cooling. In our ordinary clothing we feel just comfortable at 56 D indoors; 

 but when exposed to a current of air, even at the same temperature, we 

 feel cold in proportion to the force of the current, or in proportion to the 



