go 



TROPICAL CLIMATOLOGY 



Ladies who are particular about the skin of the face should wear 

 veils, though these are very warm. 



The reasons of these requirements are, while white reflects heat 

 very well, and absorbs very little, and is therefore excellent ex- 

 ternally, yet it transmits the chemical rays, while red and yellow 

 absorb them. 



Clothing. — ^Clothing should be loose and as light as possible in 

 weight, and of a white or khaki colour externally. Sambon some 

 years ago devised a cloth, called ' Solaro,' khaki-coloured externally 

 and red internally, with the object of preventing the action of the 

 sun's rays on the body. It is made by using threads of yellow and 

 blue twisted separately and together for the warp, while red threads 

 are used for the weft, but these latter are brought back in the pro- 

 portion of three to one, so that the front has three yellow and three 

 blue threads to one red thread, thus producing the khaki colour. It 

 should only be used as a coat, and should be obtained as thin as 

 possible, and made up as lightly as possible without linings or 

 doublings. The general opinion at the present is, however, that 

 white is by far the best colour. 



As regards underclothing, we are of the opinion that thin woollen 

 materials are the best, but we are not in favour of openwork under- 

 clothes. At the present time the use of abdominal woollen or 

 flannel belts (so-called 'cholera belts') is much abused; they are 

 useful, however, to people with a tendency to intestinal disorders. 



It should be remembered that when clothing is wet it is a good 

 conductor of heat, and hence the risk of sitting down in damp 

 clothes. Clothing should not be too heavy, nor too tight-fitting. 

 Ladies should not wear too heavy skirts, which congest the pelvic 

 viscera. 



A silk hat and frock-coat have still to be worn by men at official 

 functions at midday, but the custom is unfortunate, and may 

 perhaps in time disappear. 



Houses, Offices, etc. — Buildings should never be painted white 

 or blue, but should be of a dark red colour. The amount of light 

 admitted to a room should be restricted, and care should be taken 

 that reflection from the ground into the room does not take place. 

 Deep verandas, without which no building in the tropics is com- 

 fortable, are of the greatest value in controlling the light, as are 

 tatties or tats made of grasses and wood, and jalousies. 



Rooms should be capable of being cooled by punkahs or fans, and 

 should be lit with electric light whenever possible. Ice-blocks are 

 very useful in very warm weather or at meetings, or in sick-rooms. 

 The walls of rooms should be painted rose-colour, not white. 



Damp courses are required in the tropics, as walls are apt to 

 absorb moisture and become very damp. Round roof -tiles and 

 ventilated double ceilings are necessary to keep off the sun's rays. 



Roads. — Roads should be protected from the glare of the sun 

 by shade-trees — that is to say, trees with spreading branches — 

 while plots of green grass are most valuable in towns. There is not 



