598 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



buildings nnd street architecture. In the former it is bad taste ; in 

 the latter it is bad taste j^his the evils that spring from a foul atmos- 

 phere. Profuse embellishment, in a large town, is only another name 

 for traps to catch soot. 



Passing from the perverted taste shown on the exterior, we must 

 notice the unscientific arrangements in the interior of our average do- 

 mestic dwelling. 



Pure air is as absolute a necessity to human beings as good food 

 and untainted water. Bad air kills, however, by inches only, while 

 innutritions food and foul water do their evil work with quick preci- 

 sion both, in the end, leading to the same results impaired vitality, 

 disease, and a high rate of mortality. Nature undoubtedly has a great 

 power of adaptation ; but, under a prolonged state of unfavorable sani- 

 tary conditions, that capacity is harshly exercised. Every abnormal 

 condition of physical existence, arising from bad air, insufficient food, 

 or undue exposure, and producing no immediate results, necessitates 

 the drawing of sanitary bills on futurity to be paid with heavy inter- 

 est ; and the very poor, from necessity, and the rich, from ignorance 

 and apathy, spend shortened lives of prodigal thoughtlessness, ending 

 in vital bankruptcy. Hence the crowded inhabitants of the back 

 slums of large towns live, unconsciously, their life of lowered health, 

 under conditions which would kill off the fox-hunting squire in a 

 month. This depressed level of vitality and deferred penalty furnish 

 one explanation of the general indifference to pure air. 



Another cause may be found in its omnipresence and the con- 

 tinuity of its use. Providence has bestowed on mankind a limitless 

 amount of pure air. It surrounds us, it is always ready without 

 effort; its chemical composition never varies, and it costs no money. 

 If the supply were less ample, or it could only be obtained by an out- 

 lay of money or labor, or its use were intermittent, we, no doubt, 

 should value it at its intrinsic worth, be more jealous of its misuse, 

 and study more closely its influence upon health. 



The nineteenth-century house, however, has no special jsrovision 

 for the admission of fresh air, and, excej^t in warm weather, its en- 

 trance is jealously prevented. Ventilation is change of air, and, un- 

 less scientifically arranged, and especially warmed in cold weather, 

 such change of atmosphere means cold currents, with their attendant 

 train of colds, catarrhs, bronchitis, neuralgia, rheumatism, and the 

 evils that spring from them. Again, perfect ventilation means the 

 realization, in a great measure, of the condition of air out-of-doors ; 

 and few persons, probably, have estimated the enormous flow of air 

 requisite to effect this. The ordinary notion is, that the proper re- 

 newal of the air in a room ought to be measured by the quantity 

 passed through the lungs of an individual in any given time. But an 

 ounce of poison may vitiate a gallon of water ; and nothing short of 

 the removal and renovation of the whole of the tainted portion^ as fast 



