Democratic Sentinel, Volume 7, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 September 1883 — Sanitary Value of Foliage. [ARTICLE]

Sanitary Value of Foliage.

Prof. Goret, of fee University of Geneva, poiqts out feat fee functions-of trees in streets are not limited to acting as screens tor sun-shnnnipg wayfarers.. They temper the heat and serve fesi a protection against dust; the evaporation frorp . their leaves tends - to keep the surronndiug arp, cool apd moist, and, as one of the best means of refreshing the air Of a sick-room is toplace in ft plants and: branches, and sprinkle them with water, a like effect is produced by trees. Sun-light ’ is necessary to health; but trees, if not too thickly planted, do not intercept sunlight,—the continual vibration of their leaves and swaying of their branches admitting fee light every instant and in sufficient measure, serving, moreover, io protect fee eyes fromfee noonday glare. So far from trees impeding the circulation of air* they help to purify it; the evaporation from their leaves determines a current from above, and fee fresh air thus brought down assists in driving away the heated and dust-impregnated gases of the streets. Another useful property of foliage is that, while in hot, dry weather it moistens the surrounding atmosphere, thus rendering it fitter to breathe, this effect, which is due to evaporation, ceases .in wet weather.