FRESH AIR AND EFFICIENCY 271 



reduction of 50 per cent in the death-rate from phthisis 

 in the civil community. Many factors have combined 

 to bring about this remarkable result, but it is agreed 

 on all sides that better housing (connoting better air 

 conditions) have been an important factor. 



There is some testimony to the fact that fresh air by 

 day does not suffice to make amends for foul air by 

 night that the death-rate from respiratory diseases 

 (including consumption) may be high amongst those 

 placed under the best day conditions if the night con- 

 ditions are bad (e.g. navy). 



As a condition favouring the incidence of communi- 

 cable disease, ''overcrowding" operates in two direc- 

 tions: (a) the bad state of the atmosphere lowers 

 resistance to infection; (b) the close juxtaposition of 

 individuals favours the transference of infection. But 

 " overcrowding" in the civil population is associated 

 with poverty and its attendant lack of proper food, 

 clothing, &c. ; and so the consequences of overcrowd- 

 ing, per se, must be studied in populations from which 

 we can disassociate the effects of poverty. The army 

 and the navy furnish us with such populations. 



Now what has the experience of our army to teach 

 us? 



A Royal Commission, appointed in 1857 to report 

 upon the sanitary condition and improvement of army 

 barracks and hospitals, reported (in 1861) that, of 

 76,000 men in barracks, 45 per cent had less than 

 400 cubic feet of space per man, and some 1300 had no 

 more than 250. Now the higher cubic space has little 

 value apart from the fact that with an increased allow- 

 ance the problem of ventilation becomes simplified ; 

 but the Commissioners further found that, in respect 

 of 56 per cent of the men, "no means of ventilation 

 were provided", and for 44 per cent it was " imperfect 

 and insufficient". It is pointed out in the 1861 report 



