82 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



of the body is made in the body itself, by virtue mainly of the oxygen 

 supplied in the air ; and, as the body absorbs external heat with great 

 difficulty, it would be as wise to attempt to give warmth by fires, hot 

 bottles, and hot air, to a man who is not inhaling a due amount of 

 oxygen, as to attempt the same process on a marble statue. In a 

 word, external heat is useful only in preventing the too rapid radia- 

 tion of animal heat from the surface of the animal body. Alone, it 

 can not supply heat ; but, when a wholesome air is inspired, it can se- 

 cure the retention of the heat that is developed in the animal furnace. 



I spoke a moment ago of the open fire-grate. This is an essential 

 for the room of the consumptive. Stoves of all kinds, heated pipes, 

 and, in a word, all modes of supplying artificial warmth, except that 

 by the radiation from an open fire, are, according to the facts which 

 I have been able to collect, injurious. They are injurious because 

 by their means the air is made too dry, an objection much less appli- 

 cable to the open fire. 



The symptom which I have most commonly seen elicited in the 

 phthisical, by the inhalation of an unnaturally dry air, is haemoptysis, 

 a symptom brought on frequently by the constant cough which the 

 dry air excites. This effect, in a minor degree, will, in fact, appear in 

 some cases without any actual deposition of tubercular matter, under 

 the influence of the same cause. 



The temperature of the air in the room of the consumptive should 

 be carefully watched by the patient himself. My friend Mr. Glaisher, 

 than whom no one is more competent to speak on this point, recom- 

 mends two thermometers, the one with a wetted bulb. By the use of 

 these the humidity, as well as the temperature, can be regulated. This 

 is most advantageous, and the sensations of a consumptive patient soon 

 inform him what degree of moisture is comfortable and proper. 



I have occasionally heard phthisical patients complain of the use of 

 gas in the rooms where they are confined. Such complaints, however, 

 have usually come from patients confined in workshops where the num- 

 ber of burners is very great, and where there is almost always some 

 accidental escape of gas. 



In private houses such objections are avoidable ; but as the inha- 

 lation of coal-gas is injurious even in small quantities, and as the 

 products of the combustion of the gas are also hurtful, the necessity 

 of a free ventilation in rooms where it is burned, and in which con- 

 sumptives are lodged, is the more urgent. 



The care that should be taken to secure a good air in the living- 

 rooms of the phthisical invalid must extend with equal care to the 

 sleeping-apartment. This rule should always obtain when possible : 

 never 2^>ermit one room to perform tlte two offices of bedroom and 

 living-room. The bedroom should be large, unencumbered by need- 

 less furniture, and thoroughly ventilated. If the temperature of the 

 air without is not below GO Fahr., the windows of the room should be 





