320 THE MICHIGAN ACADEMY OP SCIENCE. 



considerations Avhicli seem petty, because so constaritly before us. The 

 subject of sanitation has grown to be of no less importance, since it has 

 ceased to be a dictionary word and become a househol<J term. More and 

 more it grows to be the housekeeper's "problem," as she feels the im- 

 portance of the subjects and as the scientists realize how many of its 

 problems lie so almost entirely in her hands. 



If we think of only those two important agents which nature employs 

 in her sanitary work of purifying and cleansing — air and water — we 

 may come to know how closely woman's work as a housekeeper allies her 

 with the scientist who devotes his time to a study of sanitary conditions 

 and laws. The housekeeper must be sure to procure pure air throughout 

 her domain, and the limits of that domain should be the bounds of the 

 house. The air within must be breathed by all the inhabitants of the 

 house ; Avhen hot, it is used as a medium for healing the house and for 

 performing many processes of cooking; at other times it is used to chill 

 articles of food, and so preserve them ; sometimes, perhaps, cool air is 

 found to be a necessity to aid in the care of the sick; and, interesting as 

 it is important, the cook frequently depends almost exclusively upon air 

 to render her dishes attractive, appetizing and even wholesome — -witness 

 the oinelettes, souffles and light breads, into the egg of which air has 

 been beaten in order to separate the mass and make it light. One of 

 the important agents in her work, air demands her care and considera- 

 tion; — she must know of its composition, how it is affected, how it may 

 be purified and kept pure. The air in a house is sure to depend very 

 much on the locality of that house. The presence of household operations 

 will effect the air — the smoking of the kitchen stove, the boiling of meats 

 and vegetables, the heating of fats, the steaming from the processes 

 taking place in the laundry. The numbers in the house, their age, health 

 and personal habits, will affect the quality of the air and must be known 

 in order to help one to determine the methods necessary to control it. 

 Disease germs may be present, due to illness of some member of the fam- 

 ily, it is the housekeeper who must make that her care. Germs of other 

 kinds may be present, due to carelessness in handling food materials. 

 Objectionable dampness, due to unsanitary conditions of water and waste 

 pipes of the household, especially those of the kitchen, which are the 

 ones most used, is another thing against which the housekeeper must 

 strive. It would almost seem that her life were one of constant strife, 

 were it not known that obedience to natural laws, throughout, and the 

 help of natural agencies, will be enough to remove almost all the dangers 

 with which she is threatened. Pure air and sunshine, the things which 

 will help most to keep things sweet and bright, nature bestows most 

 liberally if the too prudent house-wife does not cut them off. Bright 

 sunshine, pure air, fresh water, these three are the natural aids which 

 come to the hand of the housekeeper as things of first value in her 

 laboratory. 



Water, for a beverage, as a part of other foods, as a medium in which 

 to cook foods, for cleaning and obtaining sanitary conditions in many 

 ways, occupies as prominent a place in performing housework as in carry- 

 ing on the work in the human body, where it is a food solvent, carrier 

 of nutrients, agent for removing wastes, active in all processes of change 

 and an essential part of the tissues, giving them the proper consistency 

 and elasticity. As a beverage no other can equal it, and yet it may be 



