126 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



keep large bodies of men entirely free from 

 this disease. 



The value of the country may be summed 

 up thus : Its fur-bearing animals are numer- 

 ous and valuable. There are large and valu- 

 able banks of codfish among the islands, and 

 St. Paul and St. George Islands contain fur- 

 seals enough to give to the monopoly having 

 possession the control of the market for that 

 article throughout the world. Beyond this, 

 nothing valuable has been found as yet. 



HINTS ON HO USE-B UILDING. 



The great object of sanitary legislation 

 is to secure for each individual the greatest 

 amount of fresh air, pure water, sunshine, 

 and dryness of soil Public sanitation in 

 towns should provide for width of streets, 

 paving, the removal of fluid and solid nui- 

 sances, open places for the circulation of air, 

 and recreative resorts for the inhabitants. 

 The width of streets is important in relation 

 to the height of the houses. The width 

 should never be less than the height. The 

 healthiest sites for dwelling-houses are 

 known to be those on trap, granite, and 

 metamorphic rocks, where water readily 

 escapes, and the soil, and consequently 

 the air, is dry. Cholera is rare in 

 houses on such sites. Permeable sand- 

 stone, gravel, and chalk, if unmixed with 

 clay, are also healthy. Sands which con- 

 tain organic matter, clay, and alluvial soils, 

 are always to be suspected. Thorough 

 draining, both subsoil and surface, is a ne- 

 cessary preliminary to building. Dampness 

 of ground necessitates dampness of air and 

 of the walls. This causes chemical altera- 

 tion in the organic materials in the houses, 

 with absorption of oxygen and discharge of 

 other gases ; it favors, too, the growth of 

 low animal and vegetable organisms, which 

 poison the air of the dwellings, and produce 

 disease. The decomposition of the organic 

 contents of the soil is hastened by its damp- 

 ness, and especially by rapid alterations of 

 its hygrometric state. Calcareous stone is 

 best; some sandstone is so porous that, 

 though dry to-day, it may be soaked with 

 damp to-morrow. Houses should never be 

 built on ground filled up with ashes and other 

 debris. The large amount of organic matter 

 contained in it, which is freely exposed to 

 the action of the air and moisture, be- 



coming decomposed, must cause poisonous 

 emanations, destructive to those who, living 

 above, must breathe it. The drainage and 

 other pipes laid in this soil are extremely 

 liable to be entered by these poisons, and 

 thus they are conducted into houses direct- 

 ly. Frequent sweeping and washing are 

 necessary in every house. Dust is not alone 

 unpleasant, but it is a fruitful source of dis- 

 ease perhaps the most so. The dust of 

 curtains, carpets, papers, and other colored 

 substances, consisting of organic and color- 

 ing matter, being swallowed with the food 

 and inhaled, causes many a doctor's visit. 

 Every house should have a kitchen and 

 wash-room distinct from the dwelling-rooms. 

 The latter should be large enough to allow 

 of each inhabitant obtaining 10- cubic feet 

 of fresh air per hour, when doors and win- 

 dows are shut. Each house should have 

 abundance of good water for drinking, cook- 

 ing, and washing, including bathing : five to 

 six pints per day should be allowed for 

 drinking, at least 18 gallons for washing, 

 and eight to 10 should be used daily to flush 

 the sewers. Sick people require more : from 

 40 to 50 gallons daily. Water-closets con- 

 sume various quantities, according to their 

 construction. The nature of the closet and 

 the method of removing the contents have 

 become one of the most important questions 

 which advancing civilization has created. 

 The dry-earth sj stem is quite inapplicable 

 to large towns ; it suits private houses of 

 the rich or jails well. The Goux system is 

 equally unsuitable. The water system, where 

 there is a plentiful supply of water, is infi- 

 nitely the best and the cheapest. A sufficient 

 fall of ground can nearly always be obtained. 

 The improvement of the dwelling-house and 

 the establishment of comfortable homes, 

 worthy of human beings, is a necessary du- 

 ty of the state, and a noble work for the 

 philanthropist. These necessary conditions 

 may be advantageously supplemented by a 

 little comfort and elegance. A little garden 

 is a civilizer of great power. TJie Builder 



CONCERNING CROOKES. 



As relates to the claims of this man as a 

 scientific discoverer, a writer in the E>g\ 

 ncering and Mining Jottrnal says : 



"Mr. Crookes, whose accounts of ex 

 periments with the ' Psychic Fo^ce ' have 



