368 AGRICULTURE ON THE PACIFIC SLOPE 



strip may be made (two inches wide) and fitted to the 

 bottom of the window. The lower sash is pulled down 

 on this, leaving a little space between the upper and 

 lower sash through which air may pass in and out. 

 An open fire provides splendid ventilation. On the 

 other hand, the use of coal-oil stoves and* gas stoves 

 without chimney connection is very bad. Water heaters 

 of this sort in bath rooms are responsible for many 

 deaths by suffocation. 



When people are shut up in a room without venti- 

 . lation, breathing each other 's breath, they soon grow 

 sleepy, and, if they cannot escape, may become un- 

 conscious and may finally die. 



Care of the breathing organs. When the surface of 

 the body is suddenly chilled, the blood rushes from the 

 surface to the internal organs and settles there, produc- 

 ing what we call an inflammation; in this bacteria 

 play a large part. If this happens in the nose, we call 

 it a head cold; in the throat, a sore throat; in the 

 bronchial tubes, bronchitis; in the air sacs of the lungs, 

 pneumonia; in the membranes which cover the lungs 

 and line the chest cavity, pleurisy. In the latter disease 

 the membranes stick together, and the movement of the 

 lungs in breathing causes intense pain. Diphtheria and 

 membranous croup are due to the growth of bacteria 

 in the throat. 



Consumption, the " great white plague/' which kills 

 more people than any other disease, could be entirely 



