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Show '-'' 4.'' '.'-v''' i ' ' t Let Our Motto Be I GOOD HEALTH f BY DR. LLOYD ARNOLD I Professor of Bacteriology and Pre- 4 I ventive Medicine, University of I J Illinois. College of Medicine. AIR CONDITIONING Almost every one has had the experience ex-perience on a hot summer day of going Into a movie picture theater that has had a sign an-nouncing. an-nouncing. "70 COOL INSIDE." For the first few moments we have a grateful sense of comfort. com-fort. The air seems delightful after the sizzling siz-zling blasts on the street. Then gradually It dawns on us that we are cold. If we have a wrap, we put It on. But most of hs don't carry wraps when the temperature Is near the hundred mark. Moreover, More-over, we have discarded every article arti-cle of clothing that our sense of public decency will permit us to discard. We debate whether we should go out and get warm, hut we remember the unbearableness of the heat Eventually, though, we leave, and as we reach the side walk, the hot air makes us gasp for breath. We teel sulTocated ; we he come cold, clammy. We may even have a strong feeling of nausea. A few of us may collapse entirely. Obviously, this Is over-refrigeration. The purpose of air-conditioning is to make us comfortable, and if we are uncomfortable when we go from the outside hot air into the inside cooled air, and acutely uncomfortable, uncomfort-able, almost to the point of sickness, when we go from the inside cooled air into the outside hot air again, then something is wrong. The skin is the largest organ of the body. If It were spread out on the floor, It would be the size of a rug seven or eight feet square. When the outer air is cooler than the body, the skin tries to prevent heat loss by reducing the amount of warm blood flowing' through this body covering layer. While it Is Impossible for the body to prevent loss of beat by this mechanism, still excessive dissipation of heat Is avoided. But the skin loses heat and acts as a radiator In spite of all that the body can do. During cold weather we lose two-thirds of the heat value of food througli our skins. Sixty-five cents of every dollar dol-lar we spend for food Is used to heat the air In which we live. On the other hand, In the summer the skin acts like a refrigerator. We secrete water Into the outside skin and the evaporation of this water cools us. When you go from the street to an artificially cooled room during a warm summer day, your skin has to change in a moment's time from a refrigerator to a radiator. On the street your skin is working to keep your inside organs from getting too hot, for when the temperature of the air is above normal body temperature, tem-perature, the skin works hard to keep the body from being heated up to the air temperature. The only health problem In artificially arti-ficially cooled theaters, restaurants, office buildings and homes is the difference In temperature and comfort com-fort between the outside and the Inside air. There are several separate sep-arate points to be considered. The sense of comfort Is the desirable end point This Is a combination of three factors ; namely, temperature, humidity and air movement When the air is saturated with moisture, It feels hotter than air of the same temperature with lower humidity. , . .,,,.,! , 1 Sonio recent work tends to show that there should not be more than 10 degrees difference In temperature tempera-ture of the air Inside artificially cooled rooms as compared to the outside air. But there should be 40 per cent less moisture In the air In the refrigerated rooms. There should be some air movement, but not a draft or wind, sufficient to keep still air pockets forming around pewple sitting in these rooms. The greatest factor, however, how-ever, according to these Investigators, Investiga-tors, Is In the humidity of the air. Some restaurants and theaters maintain a 20 to 30 degree Fahrenheit Fahren-heit difference In temperature be tween Inside and outside air. Upon entering sucb a reiom maintained at, say 70 F. from a street temperature tem-perature of 100 to lOH K., one feels a sense of coolness and well being. Then adjustment of the body to the temperature takes place, and this sense of well-being disappears. The internal temperature rises in spite of all the skin's valiant attempts at-tempts to change itself instantaneously instantane-ously from a radiator to a refrigerator. refrigera-tor. That is why dizziness, nausea and even collapse may accompany this rapid change from a November to a July day. We do not know enouzh about alr-conditlonlng alr-conditlonlng of rooms In the summer sum-mer time to make nilf-s as yeL We have had many years of experience with heating rooms during the winter win-ter time. We need research and study UxQ the question of summer alr-conditlonlnc of offices, hornet, theaters, restaurants and such places. The necessary equipment Is expensive and special rooms must be constructed. The differences In temperature, humidity and wind movements must be examined. e Western NewAp&Per Union. |