OPEN AIR ROOMS. 435 



resulting from wind, which is always unpleasant, and 

 may be dangerous both to patients and attendants. 

 Carpets should be taken up, and all curtains and 

 hangings should be removed. The floor can be wiped 

 over from time to time with a damp cloth which has 

 been wrung out'in dilute Condy's fluid. 



I have often longed to try the effect of treating 

 fever cases in tents or sheds, well closed at the back, 

 sides, and roof, but open in front, with a thick curtain 

 that could be drawn across in bad weather. Such 

 apartments could be heated by hot water-pipes, and 

 it would not be more difficult to protect the patients 

 from draught than in a well ventilated room. I believe 

 that such simply constructed open wards, built upon 

 the flat roofs of our hospitals, would be found most 

 advantageous for the treatment of a large class of 

 medical diseases, as well as some surgical operations, 

 while the chances of the disease spreading would be 

 reduced to a minimum. The experiment might be 

 tried very easily in the gardens of some of our county 

 infirmaries, and I think many of our surgeons would 

 place cases of operation in the same sort of open air 

 sheds. I remember that the late Professor Giinther, 

 of Leipzig, treated many of his operations in this way 

 and with the best results. The sheds he had erected 

 were of the simplest possible construction, but they 

 worked well for some years. The great difficulty in 

 trying such an experiment in most London hospitals 

 is the height of the building, but in the new St. 



