On the relation of moisture in air to health and comfort / by Robt. Briggs.

  • Briggs, Robert, 1822-1882.
Date:
[1878]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the relation of moisture in air to health and comfort / by Robt. Briggs. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    [From tlio Jodunal op the Fkanklin Institute, Vol. OV, 1878.] ON THE RELATION OF MOISTURE IN AIR TO HEALTH AND COMFORT.' By RoBT. Briggs, C.E., Cor. Mem. Am. Inst, of Architects, etc. c It may be accepted that the most pleasant condition of the air, in our portion of the globe, will be found to exist on a fair day in early summer, when the temperature ranges from 62° to 68° Fahr., and the moisture present in the air is from 85 to 80 per cent, of saturation. On a day like this, no thought of the weather is taken, and the passage of the conversational compliment of a fine day becomes a needless reminder, to be accepted without discussion or thought. Admitting this proposition as a fact, it is the purpose of this paper to show that in our climate this summer condition of relative heat and moisture is not desirable, or even attainable, at other seasons, in the ventilating or heating of occupied places. And in presenting this view to the American Society of Architects, I do so with a full knowledge that it does not accord with the opinion of most American writers on the subject of ventilation, who have derived their informa- tion and their arguments mainly from the study of English and French books, and have only endeavored to reconcile the data found in these to American wants and practice. Even Wyman, who is by far the most original as an observer, as well as the most thorough as the collator of information from all sources, hardly makes the distinctive effect of our low temperature, combined with a compara- tively lower dew point, sufficiently evident. Except one investigates the relation of moisture to temperature of air in the two countries, it is impossible to reconcile our facts with the statement of good foreign authorities, that 56° is comfortable, ' Paper read before the Am. Institute of Architects, at Boston, Oct. 18th, 1877. The comfortablo warmth of air indoors is given by various authorities, as follows: Peclet, Traitd de la Chaleur, gives 15° Cent., 69° Fahr. Morin, Etudes sur la Ventilation, for nurseries, schools, etc., 59°; hospitals, 61° to (54°; theatres, assembly halls, etc., GG° to 68°! Trcdgold, Principles of Warming and Ventilating, etc.,'' 66° to 62°. Reed, Illustrations of the Theory and Practice of Ventilation, 65°. Hood, Treatise on Warming Buildings, etc., inferentially 55° to 58°. Parkos, Manual of Military Hygiene, 48° to 70° (this author has encountered the difficulty of naming a fixed temperature, and avoids the issue). Box, Practical Treatise on Heat, 62°. Others might be quoted, but these are amongst the best authorities on Heating and Ventilation.