140 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



a hole in the ground cannot be sufficiently ventilated to secure 

 vigorous health to its occupants,- however well it maj' be con- 

 structed, for the reason that a hole in the ground cannot be venti- 

 lated, even were it in the middle of a ten-acre lot; and the gas 

 which accumulates in all such places is the same as that which is 

 commonly called 'the damps' in old wells. Being heavier than 

 atmospheric air, and generated by every decomposing object, it 

 rapidly accumulates in cellars, and having an affinity to the 

 mephitic gas generated in sleeping rooms, the gas in the cellar, 

 aided by the humidity of the night-air, is drawn up into the bed- 

 chamber, and, being inhaled, poisons the blood of the unconscious 

 sleeper. Houses ordinarily constructed, even without cellars, 

 have a foot or more of carbonic acid gas (damps) on the floor, 

 preventing a proper circulation of blood ; hence the complaint of 

 cold feet by the women, and the disposition of office men to hoist 

 their feet upon chairs and tables, to secure a better circulation. 

 Let an office be properly ventilated, and that bad habit would 

 cease. For a room to be properly ventilated, it must perform 

 all the functions of a living being, which are essential to life. A 

 current of air should be introduced in contact with the stove, so 

 as to be warmed before it comes in contact with the occupants. 

 The heavy gas that accumulates upon the floor should be drawn 

 off by a syphon pipe, connected with the stove, and the light air 

 that rises to the upper part of the room should, by a like syphon 

 method, be drawn into the stove, so that all the ofiending gas and 

 effete matter may be carried olf by the Avay of the chimney, by a 

 current that will constantly change the air of the room. The 

 rule should be, make the air inside the room plenum to the air 

 outside, by force of current, at any degree of heat required. The 

 practice of shoving up and down windows, to let in fresh air, is 

 more dangerous than to continue to breathe over and over the 

 same air, but in either case life is put at hazard. It is just as 

 necessary that the air should be tempered for the skin as the lungs, 

 when a person is at rest." 



Strawbeekies in Illinois. 

 Mr. N. C. Meeker, Dongola, 111.— We cultivate Wilson's 

 'Albany, for no other kind compares with it. Our first shipment 

 was made ten days earlier than common, May 8. Last summer 

 was very wet; many plants blossomed in September; frequently 

 we picked messes of very fine fruit in November, and some even 



