Temperature of the Breath

Abstract

MY attention has been directed to a communication under the above heading by R. E. Dudgeon, in NATURE, vol. xxii. p. 241. The speculations therein raised regarding the temperature of the breath are scarcely compatible with ascertained physiological truth. Mr. Dudgeon's friend's explanation, against which he argues, is undoubtedly correct. The great value of woollen clothing in preventing chill after exercise may be explained on the same principles. The hygroscopic state of the atmosphere (and material) is the condition which causes variation in different experiments. Different materials have effects corresponding to their hygroscopic properties. The following results of a few experiments which I recently made speak for themselves:—