TO OBSCURE LIGHT IS TO SEEK ILL-HEALTH. 



There can be no real cleanliness in a dark house; dirt, darkness, and disease 

 are inseparable companions. A part of our environment which appeals strongly 

 to us all, and to which some of us are even disposed to devote too much time, is 



OUR BED. 



Yet what carelessness prevails as to the cleanliness of this bed. The sleeper 

 creeps out from between the clothes in the morning, leaving them much in the 

 position in which they have been through the night. By and by the bed is made. 

 In what does the process consist? Well, I will say, in what it ought to consist, 

 and leave you to decide whether your practice comes up to my precept. When 

 getting out of 'bed throw back the top coverings and just well loosen them, so that 

 they may cool and dry. Before leaving your room, strip off the under-sheet and 



Fig. 7. 



blanket, raise the mattress as shown in Fig. 8, and throw open the windows to 

 their fullest possible extent, allowing a full hour to pass before making up the 

 bed again. 



WHAT IS MEANT BY DRYING A BED? 



Most people understand that a bed is better for cooling, but who among us ever 

 sleeps in a damp bed? Let me remind you that moisture is always leaving the body 

 through the skin, to the amount of at least a pint and a half in twenty-four hours. 

 If eight hours are spent in bed, there must be half a pint of moisture shut up in 

 the bedding; moisture which carries off some impurities from the body; consequently 

 undesirable to retain around us. Therefore, a bed must be aired, dried, and purified 

 by light each day. 



ALL THE EXCRETIONS OF THE BODY, 



solid or liquid, should be removed with the least delay from our houses. Chamber 

 vessels must be kept covered after use and scalded with soda-water after being 

 emptied. Give them and the covers free exposure daily for an hour or two to light 

 and air. 



16 



