In a paper upon ╥Some effects of high temperature upon miners,╙ read before the Mining Engineers╒ Institution yesterday, Professor K. Neville Moss advocated the use of salt in preventing fatigue.
Progress in British coal mining, he declared, would depend in the future upon the ability of engineers to mine coal at great depths. Miners working in hot dry places drank large quantities of water and perspired freely. This caused cramp and fatigue, and clogged the kidneys, so that the excess of water in the body became formidable.
To prevent water poisoning a solution of salt in water to balance the loss of salt by perspiration was given. The results were striking. In one instance a miner of poor physique drank eight pints of water during the shift. He had been a frequent sufferer from cramp, but after taking salt each day for three months had no signs of cramp. His evidence was:
(1) Appetite much improved.
(2) Felt quite fresh after a shift╒s work, when formerly he was obliged to cease work at 12.30 p.m. each day owing to excessive fatigue.
(3) His life at home changed from laziness and sleep to one full of energy.
(4) In general feels a changed man.
This cramp is not confined to miners, but ship stokers and ironworkers are also liable to it, said Professor Moss. The best solution to use is one which contains 60 per cent of sodium chloride, and 40 per cent of potassium chloride.
Dr. J. S. Haldane, speaking of sweating and how the living body could adapt itself to different temperatures by evaporation on the skin, mentioned an experiment in which a man was enclosed in a chamber of dry air at a temperature of 200 degrees. A steak was also in the chamber, and the man watched the steak cooking in the heat, without himself being affected.
