VENICEVENTILATION. 



99 



Among the public institutions are the Conserva- 

 torio di Pieta, in which several hundred girls re- 

 ceive instruction in music, and in which, also, the 

 celebrated artificial flowers of wax are made ; the 

 conservatory of music, with funds for the education 

 of twenty-four pupils, which formerly produced ex- 

 cellent performers ; the imperial and royal library, 

 the academy of fine arts, the school of navigation, ] 

 the Armenian college, which prints, at an Arme- j 

 nian convent in this place, the Armenian newspa- 

 per, which is much read in the Levant, &c. The 

 number of houses is stated to be 15,000, and that 

 of the inhabitants 150,000. The principal manu- 

 factures are of cloth, linen, silk, gold and silver cloths, 

 masks, artificial flowers, gold wire, and other works 

 in gold, soap, wax, theriac, and chemical preparations ; 

 also copper and brass ware, leather, catgut and wire 

 strings. Considerable ship-building is carried on. 

 In the manufacture of glass, Venice was formerly 

 the teacher of Europe, but at present is surpassed by 

 other countries: the telescopes, spectacles and beads 

 made here, however, are justly esteemed. On the 

 whole, though the manufactures have much de- 

 clined, and the commerce still more, Venice yet 

 remains one of the most important commercial 

 places of the Adriatic sea. In 1817, 1050 vessels, 

 under the Austrian flag, left this port, and 2653 

 entered it, besides 315 foreign vessels. The value 

 of the merchandise imported was 34,000,000 lire. 

 The port is spacious, but the entrance is difficult, 

 on account of the shallowness of the channels and 

 the constantly fluctuating sand. To Venice be- 

 long the islands of Giudecca, St Giorgio, St Helena, 

 St Erasmo, II Lido di Malamocco, Michele and 

 Murano. These are mostly inhabited by artists, 

 manufacturers and mechanics, and might be called 

 the suburbs of the city. Here, also, excellent ve- 

 getables are raised. Formerly, Venice had neither 

 fortifications nor garrison, and was strong merely 

 by its situation : at present, there are fortifications 

 on the side towards the mainland, and a strong gar- 

 rison defends the city. Social life is at present al- 

 most extinct, and Venice appears like the corpse of 

 the former city. It is enlivened only by the gayety 

 of the carnival. The theatres are beautiful, but 

 the arts do not flourish. J. Ch. Maier has written 

 the most complete work on Venice. See Moschi- 

 ni's Guida per la Citta di Venezia, &c. (Venice, 

 1815, 2 vols., with engravings) ; Martens's Journey 

 to Venice (2 vols., Ulm, 1824, with maps and en- 

 gravings) ; also Venice and its Environs, by Jack 

 (Weimar, 1823). The first and the two last works 

 are in German. 



VENICE, GULF OF. See Adriatic Sea. 



VENOMOUS ANIMALS. The venomous ser- 

 pents form about one-fifth or one-sixth of the whole 

 class of snakes, and are distinguished especially by 

 the two long poison fangs, which take the place of 

 the first or exterior of the three rows of teeth, found 

 in the upper jaw of the innocuous species. At the 

 root of these fangs is situated a small sac, contain- 

 ing the venom, and opening into the fang?, through 

 which it is ejected by the pressure caused by the 

 action of biting. The extraction of the fangs, or 

 the removal of the aac, destroys their power of in- 

 flicting an envenomed wound. (See Serpents, Rat- 

 tlesnake, and Cobra da Capello.) The symptoms 

 resulting from the bite of all venomous snakes are 

 nearly the same. Pain in the bitten part, extend- 

 ing towards the heart, stupor, cold sweats, pallor, 

 and lividity of countenance, and gangrene of the 

 bitten part, are indications of such venomous bitt ?. 



The best manner of treatment is to put a ligature 

 upon the limb that has been bitten, between the 

 wound and the trunk of the body, and apply a 

 wine glass, from which the air has been exhausted, 

 by burning a little spirit within it, as a cupping 

 glass over the wound ; or to cause the wound to be 

 sucked by a person whose lips and tongue are not 

 chapped, until professional aid can be procured. 

 Animal poisons of this description, are innocuous 

 when taken into the stomach, although their action 

 is so powerful, and often fatal, when they are in- 

 troduced into the system by a wound, or any other 

 method of inoculation. If the lips or the tongue of 

 the person who sucks the poisoned wound be chap- 

 ped, the system is inoculated in the same manner as 

 if it were inserted by a lancet, or a bite under the 

 skin. (For the symptoms and treatment of a wound 

 inflicted by the bite of rabid animals, see Hydropho~ 

 6*a.) The stings of bees, wasps, and other insects, 

 are sometimes, though seldom, fatal ; but the pain 

 they excite is almost insupportable in some habits. 

 The sting of a bee or wasp consists of a hollow tube 

 at the root of which is a bag full of a sharp, pene- 

 trating juice, which is injected, in the act of sting- 

 ing, into the puncture made by the insect. This 

 tube is, in fact, but a sheath, containing two little 

 spears, by which the puncture is made. The part 

 affected should be bathed with the tepid spirit of 

 Mindererus. 



VENTILATION. We are all thoroughly aware 

 of the necessity of breathing ; and the agreeable 

 freshness and reviving influence of the pure morn- 

 ing air must convince us that the breathing a pure 

 atmosphere is conducive to health ; yet we as care- 

 fully exclude the air from our houses as if its ap- 

 proach were noxious. Intending to shut out the 

 inclemency of the weather only, in our care to 

 guard ourselves from the external air, we hinder 

 that renewal of the atmosphere which is necessary 

 to prevent its becoming stagnant, and unfit to sup- 

 port animal life. Few persons are aware how very 

 necessary a thorough ventilation is to the preserva- 

 tion of health. We preserve life without food for 

 a considerable time ; but keep us without air for a 

 very few minutes, and we cease to exist. It is not 

 enough that we have air ; we must have fresh air ; 

 for the principle by which life is supported is taken 

 from the air during the act of breathing. One fourth 

 only of the atmosphere is capable of supporting life ; 

 the remainder serves to dilute the pure vital air, 

 and render it more fit to be respired. A full grown 

 man takes into his lungs nearly a pint of air each 

 time he breathes ; and when at rest, he makes about 

 twenty inspirations in a minute. In the lungs by 

 an appropriate apparatus, the air is exposed to the 

 action of the blood, which changes its purer part, 

 the vital air (oxygen gas), into fixed air (carbonic 

 acid gas), which is not only unfit to support animal 

 life, but is absolutely destructive of it. An admi- 

 rable provision of the great Author of nature is here 

 visible, to prevent this exhausted and now poison- 

 ous air from being breathed a second time : while 

 in the lungs, the air receives so much heat as makes 

 it specifically lighter than the pure atmosphere ; it 

 consequently rises above ^>ur heads during the short 

 pause between throwing out the breath and draw- 

 ing it in again, and thus secures to us a pure draught. 

 By the care we take to shut out the external air 

 from our houses, we prevent the escape of the de- 

 teriorated air, and condemn ourselves to breathe, 

 again and again, the same contaminated, unrefresh- 

 ing atmosphere. Who, that has ever felt the rc 



