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could be buttoned readily or an instrument dial adjusted with ease. However, freezing was apt to take place at the subject's nose, checks, ears, and arms—body areas which, unlike the hands and feet, are notably deficient in the nerves that control the size of blood vessels and thus the rate of blood flow. The relatively slow rate of cooling that is observed when deep tissues are subjected to arctic cold is explained in terms of a rapid increase in the average resistance to heat transfer from the deep to the superficial tissues. In a few minutes of exposure to low temperatures, this sudden restriction in heat flow can actually produce a paradoxical rise in the tempera ture of the deep tissues since the rate of bodily heat produc tion, particularly in the liver and heart, continues almost un altered. Only when the temperature of the deep tissues rises to normal, pie-exposure levels—as, for example, during exercise—does the resistance to heat flow between the deep and superficial tissues abruptly decrease. Once this threshold temperature is reached, the superficial tissues heat up rapidly. The studies of Wyndham and Wilson-Dickson point to at least two major conclusions: (1) The hands and feet of men dressed in light arctic clothing can be kept warm and therefore efficient even in bitter cold weather, provided the men exercise adequately to maintain their body heat content slightly above normal; (2) men wearing light clothing should never be allowed to sit or stand about in the cold if subsequently they must use their hands for fine manipulation. Now that the arctic study is over, the experimenters have switched to new pursuits. For example, Wyndham is cur rently investigating the effects of heat, humidity, and rate of work on the physiological responses of Ialx>rers in the depths of the South African gold mines. However, every now and then Wyndhaiu's thoughts turn back to those eventful fewweeks aboard H MS Vengeance—in particular, to that day when a battle-wise old sailor ambled up from below deck to view with lofty disdain one of the shivering experimental sub jects. There the subject stood, joined to the radar room via a thick cable of thermocouples that emerged from in front of his clothing. After peering at the weirdly outfitted youngster for a few suspenseful moments, the old salt muttered, "Don't worry, lad, they will soon cut your umbilical cord." H.J.S.
WHAT FUR! The scarcity of wolverines probably bears no direct relationship to the high price of wool. Both conditions, however, mean increased de mands on the already strained production facilities of the George W. Borg Corp.'s Borg Fabric Division at Delavan, Wis. Within the past two years, this organiza tion has specialized increasingly in synthetic furs ranging from machine-made mouton to nylon wolverine. About two thirds of Borg's present production goes into clothing applications, in the form of pile fabric liners and trim —with civilian and military uses sharing about equally in consumption of available supplies. The other third of the plant's output goes into pile fabric covers for paint rollers— with wool, nylon, dynel, and nylon-dynel blends helping Borg to supply some 75% of the paint roller market. High resili ence and low paint absorbency give the synthetics a perform ance advantage, which may be enhanced through selection of the optimum denier or mixture of deniers for a given syn thetic. pjE^P •Λ·*··
September 1951
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SEPTEMBER 1951
It was paint rollers, along with applicators and polishing disks for floor wax, which set the man-made-fur ball rolling. During the development of such articles from wool staple, phenomenal increases in wool prices led to the testing of syn thetics; the experience gained led naturally toward synthetic replacements for natural furs. The Air Development Force, Research Division, which co operated with Borg's development department in establish ing specifications for synthetic wolverine fur, prefers natural wolverine or its nylon replacement for the forward edge of cold-weather parkas. The long outer, or guard, hairs form
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