NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19027, 26 May 1925, Page 8

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

POLLUTION OF THE AIR. Tho English race would probably be far healthier and stronger if suitable regulations had been adopted at tho beginning of tho coal-using era to prevent pollution of tho air by smoke, says Mr. J. Ellis Barker, in tho Daily Mail. Thousands of people are now agitating for the abolition of coal smoke, which, through the advent of gas fires and of electric lighting and power, is becoming a danger of the past, but nobody seems interested in the prevention of air pollution by the motor-car, which may become vastly more dangerous. Coal smoke is unpleasant but is not poisonous, and there are people who consider it antiseptic. On tho other hand, petrol fumes are acutely poisonous. In a large number of cases men have been killed in garages by fumes from the exhaust. Tho stagnant air in certain portions of the towns is becoming petrol-fume-laden to a very noticeable extent. In many squares and streets there is always a blue haze strongly smelling of petrol. It, invades the houses. .1 he poisoning of the town air by motor fumes may be infinitely more dangerous to our health than tho poisoning of our food by the addition of chemical preservatives. Men were not made to breathe chcriiic.il tumes. The indifference of the medical profession and of the Legislature in this matter seems incredible. Shortsightedness may bo visited with a terrible penalty. Men cannot with impunity be deprived of fresh