HEALTHY AND UNHEALTHY RESIDENCES. 5? 



cient limewash to coat walls and ceilings at frequent intervals, say 

 as often as every six months. Two or three pounds of Sulphate of 

 Iron (Copperas) dissolved in water and poured into the privy vault, 

 is a very useful and effective disinfectant. Chloride of Liine may 

 also be thrown in occasionally. A pound of commercial Carbolic 

 A.cid in a pail of water, is also one of the best purifiers we have. 

 Whether the closet or privy is shared with others or not, it will be 

 an advantage to see that it is not blocked, that it is washed regularly, 

 that floor and seat are kept clean, that its walls are limewashed at 

 least as often as those of the house within, and that, if any window 

 exist, it is kept open as constantly as possible. With this, as indeed 

 with all other windows, it is a good plan to nail a piece of wood 

 along the top edge of the window slanting inwards, so that, when 

 the top sash is open, the air from without is directed upwards, and 

 so a draught is prevented; The ash-heap is frequently a nuisance. 

 Foul smells may, however, be in great measure avoided, if nothing 

 but ashes are thrown into ash-piles in a town. Potato parings, cab- 

 bage stalks, and other vegetable refuse should be burnt. 



Water It is frequently difficult to secure water fit for cook- 

 ing and drinking purposes, even if the supply be fairly abundant, 

 because the cisterns, casks, etc., in which the day's supply is col- 

 lected, are very badly built, or very badly kept. Whether the sup- 

 ply be stored in cistern or tank, or any other receptacle, see that it 

 is emptied and thoroughly scrubbed at least once a quarter. If it 

 can be limewashed at the same time, so much the better. Remem- 

 ber the necessity of keeping these water receptacles covered, so as to 

 prevent, as far as poisible, the thousand and one impurities that 

 exist in the air of towns from finding their way into and polluting 

 the water after it has reached the receptacle from the main pipe. If 

 the drinking-water has any taste or smell, or is at all thick in ap- 

 pearance, boil it always before drinking. If a filter be needed, buy 

 two pounds of animal charcoal, and clean it by pouring on to it some 

 boiling water. Dr. Parkes' cottage filters may then be thus pre- 

 pared. He says, " Get a common earthenware flower-pot, and cover 

 the hole with a bit of zinc gauze, or of clean-washed flannel, which 

 requires changing from time to time ; then put into the pot about 

 three inches of gravel, and above that the same amount of white sand 

 washed very clean. Four inches of charcoal constitute the last layer, 

 and the water should be poured in at the top, and be received from 

 the hole at the bottom into a large vessel. The charcoal will, from 

 time to time, become clogged, and must then be cleaned by heating 

 over the fire in a shovel. The sand and gravel should also be cleaned 

 or renewed from time to time." This very simple and cheap filter, 

 kept in constant use, and the boiling of all suspicious water, will 

 render us tolerably safe from water-propagated diseases, among 

 which typhoid fever, cholera, and dysentery are pre-eminent. 



If the washing is done at home, great efforts should be made to 

 accomplish it when the head of the house is away at his business, 



