HOSPITAL WARDS. 649 



summer especially it is advisable to keep the wards as cool as 

 possible without shutting out light. If the flanks are exposed to 

 the morning and evening sun they receive the maximum amount 

 of heat, for the sun shines directly upon them, whereas at midday 

 it is almost vertical, and the projection of the eaves is sufficient to 

 throw the walls into shade. Suppose, however, the axial line be 

 east and west, then one end only being usually free and the other 

 screened by accessory rooms a minimum surface is exposed to the 

 level rays of the sun. One flank or side will be moderately hot 

 and the other cool for nearly the whole of the day, and the natural 

 ventilation of the ward will thus be materially assisted — a result 

 not attained by the north and south axial line, as the eastern side, 

 which received the svm's rays during the morning, would not cool 

 down before nightfall, and thus both sides during the afternoon 

 (the hottest part of the day) would be very hot. It may, however, 

 be urged that in winter the north and south axial line would offer 

 the most advantages, but, considering the clearness of our atmo- 

 sphere, the warmth of the sun's rays, and the lower elevation 

 above the horizon, the east and west axial line would permit of a 

 rectangular ward of the usual tj'pe being thoroughly sunned. On 

 the whole, therefore, it appears to me that the balance of advantages 

 lies with the east and west axial line instead of the north and 

 south. 



