THIS EFFECT OF HEAT UPON HEALTH.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4898, 2 December 1876, Page 3

THIS EFFECT OF HEAT UPON HEALTH.

(From the London Times.) It has of late years become a matter of familiar knowledge, notwithstanding all traditions about the .“bracing" influence of cold weather, that a sudden fall of the thermometer, in this climate, means a corresponding increase, in the ordinary daily expenditure of human life. The effects of high temperature, such, as during the last few weeks we have experienced, are' not equally well known. To the very poor, of course, an abundance of ! external warmth means a respite from some of the worst miseries of their existence; but among those who are able to shut themselves up In warm rooms during the winter a high temperature is to many a greater grievance, since it is an - enemy from which they are unable to escape. Before the thermometer reaches 80 degrees one hears nothing but lamentations • over the “excessive” heat—lamentations which are generally coupled .with positive statements about the want ■ of adaptation of English houses, English habit?, English clothing, and hnglish food to the fiery ordeal through which the English people are for a short time compelled to'pass. In all this there is a certain amount of truth. There is, indeed, by no means so much as is commonly supposed ; but it is quite worth while to consider in what way the brief periods of hot weather in this country affect the health and comfort of the inhabitants, and by what means these periods may be best encountered. As regards ■what is commonly known as public health, the only-perceptible - effect of heat is to produce, a , few cases of sunstroke and to increase the death rate from diarrhoea.- Against these results must be placed a large diminution in the deaths from many chest! diseases, as well as a distinct prolongation- of . the lives. of feeble people generally. On the whole,* the mortality of the warmer months is greatly below that of.. the winter. It is not. too much to assert that the balance 1 in this direction would be stUl more .decided than it is if the public would consider in .what way a high degree of heat is liable to affect them injuriously, and. by. what . mothhds the: greatest amount of protection against it may be obtained. As far as tlie construction of houses is .concerned, it is manifest that they should be built with reference to the requirements of the weather ;whioh is most generally prevalent, and l! tbat the few weeks of English summer,heat are too short to call for anything which would not be desirable at other seasons also. But the mistake which is most common in the management of our houses such as they exist is the admission ,of the heated air of the day and the exclusion pf the cooler air of night. In a hot summer thegreatest amount of * domestic comfort is to be ■ obtained hy keeping the rooms closed and as mnoh as possible darkened during the day, and then, when; the snn has gone down, and the heated walls are beginning to part with their warmth by radiation into the rooms, to set the windows wide open, and to admit the cooler 'air of night. A piece'of strained gauze, ora blind made of • very fine wooden trellioe work, will exclude the insects which would otherwise, be attracted by the light, and in this way it is. nqt difimult-to Tpainfain a dsgise of internal coolness which is surprising to those who halve been accustomed to open 1 their ' windows chiefly , during the day. , The regulation of clothing is a matter, of nearly equal simplicity, and the secret of success with reference to : it is not to' make changes which are too great and sudden, and especially not to -forget that V«iy thin-clothing is a fertile source of-danger in the evening andwheu taking rest after exertion. /The, common advice that summer clothing, should he .of light color may be •judiciously/followed’ in the -country,'but . in large and dirty towns this advice is only adapted', to those to .whom. cost is a.secohdary j 1 consideration,-,, -and,-- after.. all, the -point is, .not of any great importance. Sir Francis; Bond Head, in one of his .very practical .books/' laid atriaa« upon the; recommendation ! 1 that in all temperate climates the clothing of; man should be derived from the animal, and. not from the vegetable kingdom ; or, in other words, that! it should be composed of silk, wool, or leather, and not of linen or cotton. It -fa certainly the/height of ■’imprudence,; in hot weather, to lay aside .woollen underclothing an favor: of a cotton garment, and yet no error is -more common than this, A thin flannel shirt, or, :; if'cotton .sLirt is worn,, thin- woollen under-clothing, : would save -many of the worst ■- colds of the summer season—colds which are often more dangerous, and more troublesome than those of any other period in the year.. , ;, , - / But when all due attention has been paid to the temperature of the house and the quahty of the clothing, it must still he conceded that-the/most potent influence remains untouched. .. The heat of the human body is ultimately dependent upon the combustion of the fuel furnished to it by food, and a large part,of the demand for food is only as a means of, maintaining the body at a higher temperature than the surrounding air.'- If - when the thermometer is at 80 we supply, the furnace with as much fuel as was required with, the thermometer at 60, we are simply providing for the; manufacture of 20 degrees of superfluous heat, which can be applied to . ho other purpose than the-.toimeni .of:*ourselves. : certain proportion of the excess of food is in the form of alcohol, that alcohol, By virtue of one of the strongest of Its affinities,, calls cut for water as soon as it has found entrance into the blood ; and in this maimer is .established the yicious circle of ..perpetual .thirst and perpetual drinking which renders so many people nuisances -- both to' tbemselvek/ and to .'Otheris, As ■ regards--solid food the question,,-is. a, very easy- one, and the difficulty.,of a proper regulation of the diet/ depends chiefly upon this, that the appetitehas! become accustomed ...to . receive, . as., -a sigh that it is/satisfied, the'presence of, a certain hulk of nutriment.' Those yrhdde.; sire to live comfortably, through brief peiiods of./high . temperature have - but to. hear this in mind-rrrto eat very slowly as well as sparingly, to/ consume less meat than usual, and, a larger proportion of vegetable food. The customary quantity of wine, or of alcohol in any other form, should be cut down even more rigidly, than "the’ solid food, and may often be altogether laid ; aside, ,with - great . advantage; */■■.’lf this ■ is done, any ' degree .of heat .which is .ever met. with in this country willhardly . be,'.felt as an inconvenience, and<no; unusual thirst will be experienced. Be- 1 sides the 1 gain in point of comfort, there will be a porrespondinggain in point/of.safety/ Sir. CbMlrt('Napior,;when he was the sole survivor among a large number of his cotoradcs, who/ like hiiiteelf, wort sufferers from sunstroke, wqs almost certainly right in attributing his recovery to :tha absence of alcohol from his blood ; and-there-is an-enormous amount of evidence to show that this agent; of the great; value of which in other circumstances we can entertain no question, is a’ fertile source of and even of death, when /it is freely consumed in hot. weather. It is not the least of .the objections to the encouragement of the mere bad habit of perpetual thirst that so many of the'most popular of the so called cooling drinks contain alcohol, and that, by virtue of this ingredient, they may do mischief which is'greatly in excess of the temporary pleasure which they afford. It is by strict moderation in food and drink, rather than by any other changes in cur customary mode of life, that

sudden accessions of heat may be rendered inv nocuous.';: and aß'/wh’8 T this principle into practice willfind .that! they gain in enjoyment as muchas they escape,in-danger.;;/ | "./,