1856. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



275 



CLEAN YOUR CELLARS. 



By a beneficial arrangement of Providence, gases 

 and odors most prejudicial to human life are light- 

 er than the air which surrounds us, and as soon 

 as disengaged, rise immediately to the upper at- 

 mosphere, to be purified, and then returned to be 

 used again. 



The warmer the weather, the more rapidly are 

 these gases generated, and the more rapidly do 

 they rise, hence it is, that in the most miasmatic 

 regions of the tropics, the traveller can with safety 

 pursue his journey at mid-day, but to do so in the 

 cool of the evening, or morning, or midnight, would 

 be certain death. 



Hence also the popular but too sweeping dread 

 of "night air." To apply this scientific truth to prac- 

 tical life in reference to the cellars under our dwell- 

 ings, is the object of this article. 



In the first place, no dwelling-house ought to 

 have a cellar. But in large cities, the value of the 

 land makes them a seeming necessity, but it is only 

 seeming, for during many years residence in New 

 Orleans, we do not remember to have seen half-a- 

 dozen cellars. But if we must have them, let sci- 

 ence construct them in such a manner, and common 

 sense use them in such a way as to obviate the in- 

 juries which would otherwise result from them. 



The ceilings of cellars should be well plastered, 

 in order most efiiectually to prevent the ascent of 

 dampness and noisome odors through the joints of 

 the flooring. 



The bottom of the cellar should be well paved 

 with stone ; cobble stones are perhaps best ; over 

 this should be poured, to the extent of several 

 inches in thickness, water lime cement, or such oth- 

 er material as is known to acquire in time almost 

 the hardness of stone ; this keeps the dampness of 

 the earth below. 



If additional dryness is desired for special pur- 

 poses, in parts of the cellar, let common scantling 

 be laid down, at convenient distances, and loose 

 boards be laid across them for convenience of re- 

 moval and sweeping under, when cleaning time of 

 the year comes. 



The walls should be plastered, in order to pre- 

 vent the dust from settling on the innumerable pro- 

 jections of a common stone wall. 



Shelves should be arranged in the centre of the 

 cellar, not in the corners, or against the walls ; these 

 shelves should hang from the ceiling, by wooden 

 arms, attached firmly before plastering, thus you 

 make all free from rats. 



To those who are so fortunate as to own the 

 houses in which they live, we recommend the month 

 of June as the most appropriate time for the follow- 

 ing recommendations. 



Let everything not absolutely nailed fast, be re- 

 moved into the yard, and exposed to the sun, and 

 if you please, remain for a week or two, so as to af- 

 ford opportunity for a thorough drying. 



Let the walls and floors be swept thoroughly, on 

 four or five different days, and let a coat of good 

 whitewashing be laid on. 



These things should be done once a year, and 

 one day in the week at least, except in mid winter, 

 every opening in the cellar, for several hours, about 

 noon, should be thrown wide, so as to allow as com- 

 plete ventilation as possible. Scientific men have 

 forced on the common mind, by slow degrees, the 

 importance of a daily ventilation of our sleeping- 



apartments, so that now none but the careless or 

 the most obtuse neglect it ; but few think of venti- 

 lating their cellars, although it is apparent the noi- 

 some dampness is constantly rising upwards and 

 pervading the whole dwelling. 



Emanations from cellars do not kill in a night, if 

 they did, universal attention would be forced to 

 their proper management, but it is certain, from the 

 very nature of things, that unclean, damp, and 

 mouldy cellars, with their sepulchral fumes, do un- 

 dermine the health of multitudes of families, and 

 send many of their members to an untimely grave ; 

 especially must it be so in New York, where the 

 houses are generally constructed in such a manner, 

 that the ordinary access to the cellar, for coal, wood 

 vegetables, etc., is within the building, and every 

 time the cellar door is opened, the draught from 

 the grating in the street drives the accumulation of 

 the preceding hours directly upM'ards into the halls 

 and rooms of the dwelling, there to be breathed 

 over and over again, by every member of the house- 

 hold, thus poisoning the very springs of life, and 

 polluting the whole blood. 



With these views we earnestly advise our city 

 readers, as a life-saving thought, in the selection of 

 a dwelling for the ensuing year, to give ten per 

 cent, more for a home which has a model cellar ; you 

 will more than save it in doctor's bills, in all prob- 

 ability, to say nothing of taking pills, and drops, 

 and bitters, and gin, from one month's end to an- 

 other. — Hall's Journal of Health. 



THE POWER OF IMAGINATION. 



That mysterious influence exercised by the mind 

 over the body, is well illustrated in the following 

 case, contained in Dr. Warren's excellent treatise 

 on the "Preservation of Health :" 



"Sometime since a female presented herself to 

 me, with a tumor, or swelling of the sub-maxillary 

 gland of the neck. It was about the size of an egg, 

 had lasted two years, and was so very hard that I 

 considered any effort to dissipate it by medicine to 

 be vain, and advised its removal by an operation. 



"To this, the patient could not bring her mind ; 

 therefore, to satisfy her wish, some applications of 

 considerable activity were directed to be made to 

 the part, and these she pursued a number of weeks 

 without any change. After this she called on me, 

 and with some hesitation, begged to know whether 

 an application recommended to her would, in my 

 opinion, be safe. This consisted in applying the 

 hand of a dead man three times to the diseased 

 part. One of her neighbors noAv lay dead, and she 

 had an opportunity of trying the experiment, if not 

 thought dangerous. At first I was disposed to di- 

 vert her from it, but recollecting the power of the 

 imagination, gi-avely assured her that she might 

 make the trial, without apprehension of serious 

 consequences. Awhile after she presented hersel 

 once more, and, with a smiling countenance, in- 

 formed me she had used this remedy, and no oth- 

 er ; and on examining for the tumor, it had disap- 

 peared." 



Antiquity of Cow Talk. — "Koh ! koh ! koh !" 

 ejaculates the milkmaid when she calls her cow. 

 It is somewhat remarkable that the Persians, more 

 than two thousand years ago, used the very 

 same word for the same purpose — to call their 

 "moolies." 



