878 PARKS 



SANITATION OF SLEEPING QUARTERS IN CAMPS 



Regardless of whether tents or buildings are used for sleeping quarters, 

 sufficient air space and adequate ventilation should be provided. The 

 relationship between the ventilation of sleeping quarters and the air space 

 and floor space provided for each occupant is such that one cannot be 

 considered to the exclusion of the other two. 



The human body is constantly giving ofF moisture which in a confined 

 space and in the absence of sufficient ventilation serves to increase the 

 relative humidity of the air and thereby produces conditions which are 

 injurious to health. Ventilation produces an exchange between the inside 

 and outside air which tends to reduce the relative humidity of the former 

 towards that of the latter. Many different types of ventilators and methods 

 of ventilation have been devised, such as ridgepole ventilators and air 

 shafts of various kinds, all being designed to produce inward and outward 

 currents of air. Good ventilation can be produced in buildings by the 

 intelligent use of doors and windows, and in tents by means of windows 

 in the sides, flaps at the end, and possibly ridgepole or center pole venti- 

 lators. Whatever method is used it must be remembered that the object 

 of ventilation is to maintain the same relative humidity of the inside air 

 as obtains in the outside atmosphere. Each individual must be furnished 

 sufficient air space so that the available ventilation will serve to prevent 

 an undue rise in the relative humidity of the air. The smaller the air space 

 the better the ventilation must be if the relative humidity is to be main- 

 tained at the proper level. In the presence of poor ventilation, sluggish 

 air movement, or high relative humidity of the outside air, a larger air 

 space will be required for each individual than when the opposite con- 

 ditions prevail. A great many observations have shown that each occupant 

 of a building or tent under the average conditions should have not less than 

 five hundred cubic feet of air space. Where ceilings are more than ten feet 

 high the space above the ten-foot level is not included in calculating the 

 air space. With a ceiling ten feet or more in height fifty square feet of floor 

 space would be required for each individual, and with the ceilings lower 

 than ten feet the amount of floor space should be increased accordingly. 



While it is very desirable that sleeping quarters be so arranged that 

 each occupant will have fifty square feet of floor space, nevertheless it is 

 at times impracticable to meet this requirement. The ordinary cot requires 

 about fifteen square feet of floor space so that, considering only the space 

 required for the beds and the movements of the occupant in going to and 

 from his bed, the floor space per person will range from twenty square 

 feet upward. Good ventilation should be provided under any circumstances, 

 but when the floor space per person is reduced to below forty square feet 



