Jasper County Democrat, Volume 3, Number 14, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 July 1900 — ONLY THREE ANIMALS PERSPIRE [ARTICLE]

ONLY THREE ANIMALS PERSPIRE

Men, Monkeys and Horses Enjoy the Almost Exclusive Privilege. Perspiration is almost peculiar to men, monkeys and horses. Horses sweat all over the body and so do human beings, but monkeys, It Is said, sweat only on the head, feet and face. The use of perspiration is mainly to cool the body by its evaporation, although It Is generally believed that waste materials are also excreted through the sweat glands when the action of the kidneys is interfered with. In animals that perspire but little, the cooling of the body is effected by evaporation from the lungs, as we see in the case of a panting dog. The amount of perspiration varies greatly according to the temperature of the surrounding air, the condition of health, the degree of exercise taken, the amount of fluids Imbibed, etc. The average amount of perspiration is thought to be about two pints a day, but this Is, of course, much increased in hot weather. In damp weather evaporation from the skin is lessened, and so one seems to perspire more profusely than in dry weather, but this is only apparent, for really transpiration Is lessened when the atmosphere is charged with moisture. Hyperhidrosis is the medical term used to denote an abnormal increase in perspiration. This Increase may be general from the entire body, or confined to some particular part, as the face, the hands or the feet. Profuse sweating is very common in cases of dbbility and in excessively stout persons. It occurs also in connection with various diseases, such as consumption (night sweats), pneumonia, Inflammatory rheumatism and certain nervous disorders. Sudden emotion may cause Increased perspiration. The opposite condition, a great diminution or absence of sweating (anhidrosis), is much rarer, and occurs usually in connection with some disease of the skin. Sometimes the character of the secretion is changed, and cases of black, blue, gray, yellow or red sweating have been described. The treatment of profuse perspiration depends upon the cause. Tonics, cold or cool bathing, especially salt bathing, temperate exercise and nibbing of the skin are useful in cases dependent upon general debility or obesity. Spraying or sponging the body with brandy and water, vinegar, and water, or a solution of tanning or of boric acid is useful. Certain drugs which have a tendency to diminish perspiration are sometimes employed when that is so excessive as to weaken the already debilitated patient and to prevent much needed sleep.—Youth’s Companion.