314 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



"which is neither so high as to be exposed to violent gusts 

 of weather, nor so low that moisture will collect around it. 

 Let it be on the side of a hill or plain, open to the south, 

 and, if possible, defended from the north and east, — on a 

 dry, porous soil, through which water freely percolates, and 

 which, even after a rain, retains little moisture. 



Dr. James Clark of England says, " Humid, confined sit- 

 uations, subject to great alternations of temperature between 

 day and night, are the most dangerous. Of all tbe physical 

 qualities of the air, humidity is the most injurious to human 

 life ; and therefore, in selecting situations for building, par- 

 ticular regard should be had to the circumstances which are 

 calculated to obviate humidity, either in soil or atmosphere, 

 in every climate. 



" Drj'ness, with a free circulation of air, and a full expos- 

 ure to the sun, are the material tilings to be attended to in 

 choosing a residence." 



The views of Dr. Bowditch were embodied in an address 

 delivered before the Massachusetts Medical Society in 1862; 

 and in the two following propositions is expressed the results 

 of his investigations. 



" First, A residence on or near a damp soil, whether that 

 dampness be inherent in the soil itself, or caused by perco- 

 lation from adjacent ponds, rivers, marshes, or springy soils, 

 is one of the primal causes of consumption in Massachusetts, 

 probabl}'^ in New England, and possibly in other portions of 

 the globe. 



" Second, Consumption can be checked in its career, and 

 possibly — nay, probably — prevented in some instances by 

 attention to this law." 



Subsequently Dr. Buchanan of England, knowing nothing 

 of the investigations of Bowditch, proved that dampness of 

 soil and consumption stood in relation to each other as cause 

 and effect. 



Drainage-works had been introduced into several English 

 towns, rendering the soil dryer, and very greatly diminishing 

 the mortality from consumption in proportion to the extent 

 of subsoil dryness. 



In Salisbury the death-rate from consumption fell forty- 

 nine per cent ; in Ely, forty-seven ; in Rugb}', forty-three ; in 

 Banbury, forty-one. 



