1 76 Life and Health 



The air thus already vitiated putrefies very rapidly after 

 it leaves the mouth. It is at once absorbed by clothing, 

 curtains, carpets, porous walls, and by many other objects. 

 It is difficult to dislodge these enemies of health even by 

 free ventilation. The close and disagreeable odor of a 

 filthy or overcrowded room is due to these organic exhala- 

 tions from the lungs and the skin, as well as from the 

 unclean clothing of the occupants. 



The necessity of having a proper supply of fresh air in 

 enclosed places, and the need of removal of impure air are 

 thus evident. If a man were shut up in a tightly sealed 

 room containing 425 cubic feet of air, he would be found 

 dead, or nearly so, at the end of twenty-four hours. Long 

 before this time he would have suffered from nausea, head- 

 ache, dizziness, and other proofs of poisoning. These 

 symptoms are often felt by those who are confined for an 

 hour or more in a room where the atmosphere has been 

 polluted by a crowd of people. The unpleasant effects 

 may rapidly disappear on breathing fresh air. 



-265. The Effect on the Health of breathing Foul Air. 

 People are often compelled to remain indoors for many 

 hours, day after day, in shops, factories, or offices, breath- 

 ing air perhaps only slightly vitiated, but still recognized 

 as "stuffy." Such persons often suffer from loss of appe- 

 tite, dull headache, fretfulness, persistent weariness, and 

 general weakness. 



Persons in this lowered state of health are much more 

 prone to suffer from colds, catarrhs, bronchitis, and pneu- 

 monia than if they were living in the open air, or breathing 

 only pure air. Thus, in military service, the soldiers who 

 live in tents in the coldest weather are far more free from 

 colds and lung troubles than those who live in tight and 

 ill-ventilated huts. 



