"Light starvation," an ailment only recently discovered, is more prevalent in Detroit and three or four other cities of the United States than probably anywhere else in the world, according to P. R. Beasley, president of the Beasley-Eastman Laboratories, Inc., Detroit.
Mr. Beasley, who has spent years in research and development of electrical therapeutic equipment, and has recently perfected the "Life-Lite," an automatic carbon arc lamp emanating ultra-violet rays, has this to say:
"In the latitude of Detroit, scientists declare that sunshine contains the proper volume of ultra-violet rays only between the hours of 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. But, here in the city, we are robbed of even this benefit, since ultra-violet rays are filtered out by the dust and smoke in the air before the sunlight reaches us. Furthermore, these health rays will not penetrate window glass.
"This deficiency of ultra-violet rays does not cause any separate or
specific disease, although in infants and children it is frequently the cause of rickets, anaemia and generally retarded development. In adults it results in general lack of tone which is manifested in nervousness, digestive disorders, loss of energy and irritability. In many cases light starvation upsets glandular secretion, the results of which are many and various, and most of them distressing."
