IMPROVEMENTS IN THEATER SANITATION. gj 



be deprecated, for it only raises and scatters the dust, but it does 

 not remove it. Dusting of the furniture should be done with a 

 dampened dust cloth. The cleaning should include the hot-air 

 registers, where a large amount of dust collects, which can only 

 be removed by occasionally opening up the register faces and wiping 

 out the pipe surfaces; also the baseboards and all cornice projec- 

 tions on which dust constantly settles. While dusting and sweep- 

 ing, the windows should be opened ; an occasional admission of sun- 

 light, where practicable, would likewise be of the greatest benefit. 



The writer believes that a sanitary inspection of theater build- 

 ings should be instituted once a year when they are closed up in 

 summer. He would also suggest that the granting of the annual 

 license should be made dependent not only, as at present, upon the 

 condition of safety of the building against fire and panic, but also 

 upon its sanitary condition. In connection with the sanitary in- 

 spection, a thorough disinfection by sulphur, or better wath for- 

 maldehyde gas, should be carried out by the health authorities. 

 If necessary, the disinfection of the building should be repeated 

 several times a year, particularly during general epidemics of in- 

 fluenza or pneumonia. 



Safety measures against outbreaks of fire, dangers from panic, 

 accidents, etc., are in a certain sense also sanitary improvements, 

 but can not be discussed here.* 



In order to anticipate captious criticisms, the writer would state 

 that in this paper he has not attempted to set forth new theories, 

 nor to advocate any special system of theater ventilation. His 

 aim was to describe existing defects and to point out well-known 

 remedies. The question of efiicient theater sanitation belongs quite 

 as much to the province of the sanitary engineer as to that of the 

 architect. It is one of paramount importance — certainly more so 

 than the purely architectural features of exterior and interior 

 decoration. 



In presenting to the British Association the final report on the north- 

 western tribes of Canada, Professor Tylor observed that, while the work of 

 the committee has materially advanced our knowledge of the tribes of 

 British Columbia, the field of investigation is by no means exhavxsted. The 

 languages are still known only in outlines. IMore detailed information on 

 physical types may clear up several points that have remained obscure, and 

 a fuller knowledge of the ethnology of the northern tribes seems desirable. 

 Ethnological evidence has been collected bearing upon the history of the 

 development of the area under consideration, but no archaeological inves- 

 tigations, which would help materially in solving these problems, have 

 been carried on. 



* See the author's work, Theater Fires and Panics, 1895. 



