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Cork insulation; a complete illustrated textbook on cork insulation ...

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318 CORK INSULATION<br />

History also shows that the ancient Egyptians, <strong>on</strong> the<br />

other hand, knew the secret of cooling liquids by evaporati<strong>on</strong>,<br />

which method of cooling is practised today by the natives of<br />

India, as well as by the desert traveller, and quite probably<br />

by many others. The ancient Egyptians placed shallow trays,<br />

made of porous material and filled with water, <strong>on</strong> beds of<br />

straw, and left them exposed to the night winds. Through<br />

the resultant evaporati<strong>on</strong>, the water became chilled sometimes<br />

•ARTIST'S CONCEPTION OF ANCIENT EGYPTIANS PREPARING<br />

WATER FOR CHILLING BY EVAPORATION.<br />

to the extent of a thin film of ice <strong>on</strong> the surface. Today, in<br />

the upper provinces of India, water is made to freeze during<br />

cold, clear nights by leaving it overnight in porous vessels, or<br />

chilled in c<strong>on</strong>tainers that are wrapped in moistened cloth. In<br />

the first instance, the water freezes by virtue of the cold<br />

produced by its own evaporati<strong>on</strong> ; and in the sec<strong>on</strong>d instance,<br />

the water is rapidly cooled by the drying of the moistened<br />

wrapper. In Bengal the natives resort to a still more elabo-<br />

rate plan. Pits are dug about two feet deep and filled three-<br />

quarters full with dry straw, <strong>on</strong> which are set flat, porous<br />

pans c<strong>on</strong>taining water. Exposed overnight to a cool, dry,<br />

gentle wind from the northwest, the water evaporates at the<br />

expense of its own heat with sufificient rapidity to overbalance

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