OTHER IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT AIR 137 



shine away, they should be removed. The fact that 

 they are beautiful and add to the fine appearance of 

 the house should not save them. Healthfulness of 

 the home is the first consideration, and even beautiful 

 foliage should be sacrificed, if its presence makes the 

 indoor atmosphere damp and unwholesome. 



By examining the air of different schoolrooms, it has 

 been found that microbes are not nearly as numer- 

 ous in well ventilated buildings as in those of opposite 

 character. A carpeted room which has been recently 

 swept and dusted has been discovered to have more 

 germs in its air than were present before the sweep- 

 ing. Therefore there is an advantage in having var- 

 nished or painted floors, covered with rugs instead of 

 carpets. The rugs may be cleaned out-of-doors, while 

 the damp cloths used to wipe up the dust from the 

 floors and furniture may be washed in hot water, thus 

 destroying the germs, or at least removing them from 

 the room. Dusting should always be done with a 

 cloth moistened in liquid veneer or some similar prepa- 

 ration, when it can be done without injury to 

 polished surfaces, for then the atmosphere may be 

 kept free from the dust and germs which are stirred 

 up by a dry cloth or duster. 



Pains should also be taken not to let the tempera- 

 ture of an artificially heated room rise above seventy 

 degrees, and a few degrees lower is even better if it 

 does not cause discomfort. In Great Britain the 

 temperature of schoolrooms in cold weather is com- 



