PROBLEM 237 265 



Problem 237: To make a sanitary map of my own environ- 

 ment. 



Method and Observations. — 1. Make a large map of your 

 immediate neighborhood by drawing to scale on cardboard, or 

 heavy paper, a map of your home block (if you live in the city) 

 or the neighborhood surrounding your house (if you live in a small 

 town). Locate on the map all the houses by oblong shaded areas 

 and use cross lines to indicate stores. Make an index at the 

 bottom of the map to explain the uses of the different stores or 

 buildings shown. Using board of health signs, indicate any homes 

 in which your local board of health has placarded contagious 

 diseases. 



2. Locate on the map any standing water, especially water 

 in old tin cans, gutters, or depressed roofs, sewer openings, catch 

 basins, open barrels, or small ponds in vacant lots. Why should 

 you locate standing water? 



3. Find the position of any stables and determine if the heaps 

 of manure are allowed to collect and stand for long periods of 

 time. Why would such manure heaps be a menace to the public 

 health of your neighborhood ? 



4. Notice the condition of the garbage pails in your neighbor- 

 hood. Is garbage collected regularly? Are all the pails provided 

 with covers? If not, locate coverless pails. Does garbage ever 

 stand for more than two or three days without collection? Are 

 the garbage pails, after the collection of garbage, washed clean, 

 or is garbage allowed to remain sticking to the sides of the pails 

 from one week to another? What dangers might arise from such 

 pails as the latter? 



5. Investigate the condition of all butcher shops, restaurants, 

 or stores where perishable food is exposed for sale. Do you find 

 the shops screened, and the exposed food protected from flies? 

 Are there excessive numbers of flies in the butcher shops ? If so, 

 then try to locate their breeding places. Look for bits of stale 

 meat or other refuse that may have been allowed to stand un- 

 touched in a given place for over two weeks. 



6. Locate any sewer openings or catch basins from which come 

 bad odors. Also locate any outdoor privies, especially if not 



