Air and moisture on shipboard : a fragment of applied physiology / by Th. J. Turner.
- Turner, Thomas J., 1815-1901
- Date:
- [1877?]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Air and moisture on shipboard : a fragment of applied physiology / by Th. J. Turner. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)
12/20
![Thursday.—Scrub spar-deck without sand. FrUUtji.—Scrub decks with Band. Saturday.—Holy-stone decks. Sunday.—Scrub decks with sand. The above outline is given, subject to the approval of the commanding officer. | New W. <i>. & stn. bills printed.] Or the following summaries from official papers: Wyoming.—August: Spar-deck wet t. berth-deck 31 times. Ossipee.—December: Spar-deck every morning when not raining, berth-deck 6 times. Enterprise.—rune: Spar-deck wet 30, berth-deck 10 times. Plymouth.—June: Spar deck wet 26, berth-deck (i times. Saint bonis.—June: Spar deck wet 30, berth deck & times. And in one tirst rate during the month of dune all decks are reported dry on two occasions. There appears, therefore, a capriciousness in this matter which should not exist. In some instances that have come to the knowledge of the writer this Wetting of the decks has been delegated to the petty ollicers of the ship, and has been determined upon by some oracular liunsby, whose opinions are founded upon the way they used to do in those good old times to which he so fondly reverts and in w hich he so implicitly believes. The whole practice is a relic of those days—of the days of Paul Hoste, Benbow, Van Tromp. Indeed, the inheritance is Noachian,and it seems to be an effort of such heredity in this direction, midst others, to repro- duce the exact conditions of that memorable cruise on shipboard to-day. Otherwise it is difficult at the present time, considering the progressive development of the Navy, to understand why this abomination is so Strenuously upheld. It would soon cease— Had not damned custom brazed it so That it in- proof and bulwark against sense. Por those who may desire some few data for guidance in these matters, it may bo stated that a relative humidity should not vary much from 70 to 75. The average relative humidity of the air over the world, accord- ing to Levy, being 72, may be assumed as the normal. The difference between the dry and wet bulb thermometers should not be less than 3° or 4° F. Briggs, the best authority upon atmospheric moisture, assigns 70 as the relative humidity in our country as best consistent with health. The air over the ocean has always a greater degree of relative humidity than over the land, and varies slightly in summer and winter. The range has been determined as from 70 to 7~>, saturation = 100. The less also the cubic air-space per man, the greater becomes the relative humidity of the air. The diurnal and seasonal variation and range of relative humidity seems positive from the observ ations before alluded to, but whether it follows the cyclical oscillations of the barometer and thermometer, as](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21160624_0012.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
