farmers' houses. 323 



A little sink near a kitchen door-step, inadvertently formed lias been known, 

 although not exceeding in its dimensions a single square foot, to spread sickness 

 through a Avhole household. Hence everything of the kind should be studiously 

 avoided, so that there should be no spot about a farm-house which can receive 

 and hold standing water, whether it be pure rain from the sky, the contents of 

 a wash-basin, the slop-bowl, or the Avater-pail. 



As to the shape and size and height of the rooms, each builder must decide 

 for himself, according to his taste and the length of his purse. A square 

 building gives most room for the same money, and a broad hall in the center 

 of the building affords greater advantage than any other arrangement. 



"High ceilings," as they are called, are now much the fashion, but they 

 are more costly in the first place, and occasion an unnecessary waste of fuel. 

 They are commended for their spaciousness, but they sometimes give a barn- 

 like appearance to a house, and are never so cosy as rooms which are not quite 

 so high. 



Winding stairs are objectionable everywhere, but especially in the country, 

 where persons i-ise by daylight or sooner, and Avhere there are old persons or 

 young children, as in haste or darkness there is danger of falling and breaking 

 or disjointing the limbs or neck. 



It is a great saving in the cost of furniture, if, in the erection of new build- 

 ings, and in the modification of old ones, large, light, and roomy closets are 

 plentifully supplied, and with them shelves, hooks, and drawers. Many persons 

 in the country when "dressed" show bad house-keeping and characteristic 

 slovenliness, by having their outer garments marked with innumerable 

 "creases," showing that they have been thrown negligently into a di-awer and 

 allowed thus to remain from one "going out" to another. The outer dresses 

 of both sexes should be hungup in closets, protected by doors from dust ; and to 

 this end every farm-house should have a great abundance of closet room. 

 These closets should always be large, and all the doors should be hinged within 

 two or three inches of the wall, so that there may be no dark corners for the 

 collection of dust or other improper things, or for the hiding of what is valuable, 

 occasioning the loss of valuable time in searching for it. For the same reason 

 there should be no "closets" arranged under the stairways unless they are 

 lighted in some way. 



Every room should be so arranged, if possible, that there should be at least 

 one window opposite another, or a door, so that the room may be speedily and 

 thoroughly ventilated by opening both at the same time. Transoms or movable 

 sash over the door are very essential in bed-rooms in securing ventilation. 



CHAMBERS. 



One of the most general and, at the same time, one of the most pernicious 

 errors in modern architecture, especially in the construction of private dwellings, 

 is founded on the mischievous supposition that almost any place is good enough 

 to sleep in. It is common everywhere to set apart the smallest rooms in the 

 house for sleeping apartments. To show what a ruinous mistake this is, let 

 the reader remember that at least one-third of a man's existence is spent In bed 

 in sleep. Eight hours out of every twenty-four we are in our chambers. And 

 when it is considered that air is essential to health, that without it we cannot 

 live two minutes, it must be of material importance whether we breathe a pure 

 or impure air for a third of our existence. A full-sized man breathes — takes 

 into his lungs — at each breath about a pint of air ; while in there all the life- 

 nutriment Is extracted from It, and, on its being sent out of the body. It is so 

 entirely destitute of life-giving power tlvit if rebreathed into the lungs again, 

 without the admixture of any pure air, the Individual M'ould suffocate — would 

 die in sixty seconds. As a man breathes about eighteen times In a minute, and 

 a pint at each breath, he consumes over two hogsheads of air every hour, or 



