proper. As the Department did not have at its disposal a force adequate to make the necessary investigations of local conditions, and as no general order could justly or safely be made to apply to the entire State, the only course possible was to leave the matter of relaxing

restrictions to local authorities. Action to this effect was taken by the Public Health Council October 31, in the following memorandum, which was immediately forwarded to all local health departments of the State:

The epidemic influenza situation in Ohio is improving and in the opinion of the State Department of Health, we may soon reasonably expect to reach practically normal conditions for the State at large. In certain parts of the State, notably in the mining districts where severe epidemic conditions have arisen, normal conditions cannot be expected to be reached until later.

Health authorities and the public should bear in mind that the quarantine restrictions, as advised by the State Department of Health, had for their purpose limiting to the greatest extent practicable the assemblage of people in such places as contribute to the spread of such diseases as epidemic influenza, and this thought must be kept in mind by health officials in the removal of quarantine restrictions.

Lifting of quarantine restrictions due to epidemic influenza will be left to the judgment of local health officials, and they assume responsibility for the action taken. For the guidance of local health officials, the State Department of Health advises that when there has been a marked decline in the occurrence of new cases, although some new cases are still occurring, restrictions may be removed in such places where sanitary conditions are maintained or can be provided and maintained.

The Department in sending out this memorandum offered to advise local health officers who were in

doubt as to what course should be pursued. Many requests for such advice were received, and in general the advice was, "Be cautious." Health officers were advised against undue haste and were warned that premature opening of places of public assemblage might permit a reappearance of the epidemic and undo much of the good which had been acomplished by the closing orders. They were urged to have pupils returning to school carefully examined by teachers and to have all sick children or children in whose homes sickness existed excluded at once.

to

In several communities, health authorities yielded too soon popular demands for rescinding of closing orders, and recurrent epidemics resulted. The disease being reintroduced by visitors from nearby rural districts where it was still prevalent.

This article is prepared too early to permit of any statement of the ravages of influenza in Ohio. The epidemic is still in progress, although past the crest, and new cases and deaths are occurring daily. It may be very conservatively estimated that there have been close to six hundred thousand cases and twelve thousand deaths* in Ohio. The percent of fatalities appears not to have been as high in Ohio as in the East and in the military camps, which were invaded by the disease in its earlier, more virulent stage. It is hoped that by the time the next issue of the OHIO PUBLIC HEALTH JOURNAL goes to press more definite statistics may be presented.

The Problem.

The experimenter used his own residence, the south half of a brick "double" house, facing west, located in Columbus, Ohio, toward the outskirts of the northern part of the city and on an elevation about as high as any in the city limits, estimated at 100 feet higher than the central portion of the city. A solid brick wall separated the experimenter's portion of the building from the other portion, which was also occupied as a residence.

The building was covered with the usual type of slate roof. The basement was built of stone and cement, with a concrete floor four feet below the ground level. It was separated by solid masonry from its neighbor and all in one space. The basement was capable of maintaining fairly fixed air con

ditions, therefore acting as a good insulation to the base of the building.

The first floor consisted of three rooms in linear order from front to rear, space being taken off of the center rooms of the building on each floor for the halls and

stairways. A rather massive type of brick front porch, unenclosed, joined directly under one roof to the neighbor's porch on the north side, and tended somewhat to temper weather conditoins. In addition, a small unenclosed rear porch protected the kitchen entrance to some extent. Practically complete insulation was provided on the entire north side by the other half of the building, and a large frame residence from five to ten feet distant protected the south side.

The second floor had much the same arrangement as the first, consisting of three rooms in linear order with hall, stairway and bathroom located on inner side of

building.

A large attic, unfinished, except that it was tightly floored over two-thirds of its extent, acted as an insulator to the top of the building.

The total cubic space included in the experimental rooms (parlor, dining-room and kitchen on the first floor, and study and playroom on the second floor), comprised 7,569 cubic feet. Deducting space occupied with furniture, fire

place and chimney extensions, etc., approximately 7,000 cubic feet was the maximum cubic space directly concerned in the experiments.

Hence, the abode consisted of an ordinary sized residence place (one half of a brick "double"), located in a city residence district, rather closely built up and at a good relative elevation.

The Time of Year.

The experiments were conducted between January 8 and February 17, 1918, which included the

continuous extent of severe weather of a rigorous winter. Actual determinations began on January 10 and continued daily with certain exceptions through February 7, when a warmer spell prevailed for about a week, final determinations being completed on February 17 when another cold spell was at hand.

Factors of Influence.

I. Protection or General Insulation of the House. Because of the construction and situation of the building in relation to neighboring structures, it may be stated that it was, perhaps, a little better protected from weather conditions than the usual residence, although the elevation of this part of the city permitted probably fuller exposure to weather conditions than is ordinarily the case.

2. Special Insulation. — There were no storm-windows nor stormdoors. However, the looser window sashes and the exterior doors were well weather-stripped. Walls and ceilings were lathed (except on both outer walls), plastered and papered. Air filtration leaks and losses of heat by conduction through these were, therefore, to be considered controlled in a fairly.

good manner. (Note, however, the chimney openings of three grates and kitchen.) Hence the brick construction with entire north wall free from openings (with the opposing half of opposing half of building occupied), the tight basement and large, although unfinished, attic produced, withal, an insulation fully in keeping with, but no better than, the average residence. The flooring on the first floor was double, the upper layer being the seven-eighths inch oak, on second floor single, pine, well varnished.

3. Rooms Used in Experiments. -Only the three first floor rooms, and the front room and small rear room on the second floor were included in the experiments, since these were the only rooms where it was attempted to maintain a steady comfortable temperature. A small bathroom on the second floor was omitted as well as a bedroom -the latter unheated. All halls and stairways were omitted. When the furnace was going, the general temperature in the basement ranged from 40° to 60° F. A gas-burner under a non-insulated hot-water tank was going continuously in the basement. This, when the furnace was not in operation, was found sufficient to keep the basement temperature up to at least 32° F. even on the coldest and windiest days.

Heating Methods and Appliances. - Coal shortage rendered it possible to continue the experiments only the length of time indicated (January 10 to February 17). The furnace, which burned coal, was placed in the center of the basement and had hot-air ducts with fairly good upward slope. It was, by experience, a fairly good heater and in good condition. During the course of

the experiments the outdoor coldair duct was closed and only the basement intake was used. However, considerable inleakage of outdoor air occurred here, as is usual in the ordinary type of damper control of such ducts. The house circulation, therefore, was (a) from the basement into (b) the furnace jacket, then (c) through the various hot-air ducts and registers to (d) the rooms above, with whatever returns there were through (e) door-leaks and leakages about gas pipe openings, etc. pasing vertically through the floors. There were no return ducts or registers either between the second and first floors or between the first floor and basement. However, the indoor filtration leaks were of some importance in creating a circulation and recirculation of air between floors.

Gas-grates were present in the front room and middle room on the first floor and in the front room on the second floor, and were used frequently. All were flue-ventilated (without dampers) to the exterior by chimneys. The kitchen was provided with a gas-stove which was also used considerably as a heating unit. This stove was also flue-vented, without damper, by a 4-inch pipe to a chimney of good draft, The study was provided with a portable gas stove which was used fairly often in addition to furnace supply and the gas-grate in this room. The playroom was provided with an overhead gasplate-heater of the yellow flame, complete combustion type, which was also used fairly often. During the experiments, all doors to other rooms, halls and to the exterior were kept closed with the exception of the necessary moments of ingress and egress.

5. The Number of Occupants is a feature of some importance in the matter of both heat and humidity production, particularly when several máy be gathered in one room for some period of time. Persons in the household consisted of two adults and two small children. Rarely were these present at one time in any one room.

6. "Primary Sense Impression" an imwas carefully noted as portant index to the general ventilation of each room. It was always determined immediately upon entering a room.

7. General "Room Comfort" in the matter of temperature or air movements after the experimenter or others had been present for half an hour or more, was also noted with each determination.

8. A set of reliable Thermometers (eight in number) were hung in the various rooms on side walls farthest from heating units at a height of about five feet from the floor. All of these thermometers were calibrated against the drybulb thermometer used on the sling psychrometer, the calibrations being made at different degrees of temperature in approximately 10° intervals from 50° to 100° F.

9. Psychrometric Readings. A pocket-type sling psychrometer of first class quality and accuracy was used. Readings were made at about the center of each room and at the same place always. The psychrometer was whirled for a minute or two until both the drybulb and wet-bulb readings were constant, then both were immediately read. Distilled water, which stood in covered glass tumblers in each room, in order to insure "room temperature" of the water used, was used for moistening the wet bulb. Relative hu

midities were determined by consulting a psychrometric table in the usual manner.

10. As each indoor psychrometric reading was made, the Outdoor Temperature, as indicated by a standardized thermometer hung on the back porch (building wall) was also read.

II. Official Weather Conditions. At the completion of the series of experiments, in response to a request made of the Director of the local Columbus Weather Bureau, the experimenter was supplied with a report of the weather conditions in regard to (a) temperature, (b) relative humidity, (c) wind velocity and (d) wind direction for each of the hours corresponding to the readings made in the home experiments. Only occasionally did the official records as to temperature vary more than two or three degrees from those noted by the back-porch thermometer, in which cases official records were invariably more extreme than thos given by the experimenter's thermometer (which was therefore on the safe side). The experimenter did not attempt any psychrometric readings out-ofdoors.

12. Temporary Disturbing Factors consisted principally of laundry work, weekly, in the basement where an additional gas-plate heater, under a clothes boiler, and the escape of some steam and moisture from clothing hung up to dry, played a certain small part in improving humidity conditions. In a lesser way, some types of cooking in the kitchen produced some humidity. As, however, but few quarts of water at the most were evaporated by these means,

such influences were not of much importance.

13. To increase Air Movement an eight-inch electric fan, driven at the medium of its three available speeds, was placed in the basement intake to the furnace and kept running for periods of from two to six hours previous to making readings. As noted by the rush of air out of the registers, this very materially improved the circulation of the air throughout the house. No attempts were made to estimate air velocity, air displacement or air direction in various rooms. — the variations in these factors being, of course, great, but these factors no different than in all inhabited quarters, where they are necessarily controlled sufficiently to insure more or less comfort.

14. A Humidfying Apparatus was installed in an opening near the top of the furnace-housing (in the slanting portion) so that the water spray continually played on top of the dome of the firebox within. This device works on the atomizer principle, although in order to get sufficient water into the air with the city water pressure available (14 to 25 pounds), it was often necessary to have the particles of rather larger size, on the average, than could be called "fog".* Except for certain experimental purposes, the device was kept going for at least a halfday period before readings were made in the rooms above and on some runs was in continuous operation for 48 hours at a time. The amount of water supplied by the device was within easy control of the experimenter. In the early experiments it was found that not