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THE GENESEE FARMER. 



Jan. 



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A NATIONAL POISON. 



Under this headinor, tiie editor of the "Horticultu- 

 rist" writes a leader of five and a half pages in leng^th, 

 which ajipears in the November number of that jour- 

 nal. After an extended and grandiloquent introduc- 

 tion, the case is thus stated : 



The national poison that we alkule to, is nothing less tlian 

 the vitiated air of close stovex, and the nnventilated apart- 

 menU which aecoiiipany them. " Stoves." exclaim a thou- 

 sand voiei's in the same breath, "stoves poisonous ? iNon 

 sense! They are perfectly healthy, as well as the most 

 economiral. convenient, inlior-saving. useful and most mdis- 

 pensible things in the world." We grant it all, good friends 

 and readers, but nnist also have our opinion— oiir calmly 

 considered, and carefully matured opinion — which is nothing 

 more nor less than this, that stoves, as now used, are a 

 national curse — the secret poisoners of that blessed air be- 

 etovved by a kind Providence, as an cli.xer of life, giving us 

 new vi'jor and fresh energy at every inspiration, and we 

 ungrateful beings, as if the pure breath of heaven were not 

 fit for us, we reject it, and breathe instead — what ? — the air 

 which passes over the surface of hot iron and becomes loaded 

 with all the vapor of arsenic and sulphur, which that metal, 

 highly healed, constantly gives oil'! 



From the above, the reader will see that the editor 

 of the " Horticulturist" disagrees with Hudibras, who 

 taught — 



" What dreadful perils do environ 

 The man that middles with cold iron." 



It is ''hoi iron" that "constantly gives off vapors of 

 arsenic and sulphur." 



Suppose a stove were made exclusively of arsenic 

 and sulphur, or of any other combu.->tible substance ; 

 hov? long would the stove stand heating before, like 

 a wooden one, it would all be dissipated in gas and 

 vapor ? Probably not one part in ten tliousand of 

 the metal in a stove is arsenic or sulphur ; and if this 

 minute quantity is " const a nth/ given off"" when 

 heated, it is obvious that a few hours will suffice to 

 consume the whole of these really combustible min- 

 erals. If they are in a condition, by their intimate 

 association with iron, to be involatile, then it is 

 equally plain that no poisonous vapors can bo "given 

 ofil" It would be as reasonable to say tliat, an ounce 

 of coal can be forever burning in a stove and " con- 

 stantly giving off vapor" and carbonic acid, and yet 

 aevor be con-sumed I 



- If stoves were not in general use, and whate'^/^r 

 affects the public health were not of universal inter- 

 e?t, we should not have deemed it worth while to 

 expose the grave error of this "calmly considered and 

 carefully matured opinion," so confidently expressed. 



The article contains several other "opinions" put 

 forth with equally "calm consideration," which de- 

 serve correction. If the following be true, then our 

 humble opinion is greatly at fault : " It is safe to say 

 that nine-tenths of all the houses in the northern 

 States, whether belonging to rich or poor, are entirely 

 unventilated, and heated at the present moment by 

 close stoves." 



Wo know not what Mr. Dow.mng regards as an 

 " a,NVE:sTiL.\TKD HousK ;" but wc havo traveled a 

 good deal in tlie northern States, from Massachusetts 

 to Iowa, and if nine-tenths of the dwellings of coun- 

 try people are not sufficiently ventilated, then they 

 must live in tents, for we have slept in many a house 

 where one need not get out of his bed to count the 

 stare, without the aid of a window. It is possible to 

 make a room too tio-jit for the health of its occupants ; 

 but that nine-tenths of ail the houses in the northern 

 or southern States are so constructed, is a great mis- 

 take. We write this paper in a building that cost 



over $460,000, which has thick walls, floors that rest 

 on solid arches, and no room has other means of ven- 

 tilation than common doors and windows. Each 

 room is sub.<tantially a large stone oven, and yet so 

 strong is the current of air timt rushes in at the sides, 

 top and bottom of every door, that the noise sounds 

 like stage thunder. Not to be misunderstood, we 

 repeat that rooms may be too close for health, and 

 particularly small sleeping rooms, when neither door 

 nor window is opened from nine at night till six in 

 the morning. Proper ventilation is all-important ; 

 but one need not live out door, as some do in the 

 main, to secure this advantage. 



The editor of the "Horticulturist" speaks of close 

 stoves as "little demons," apparently on tiie principle 

 "give a dog a bad name, then kill him." Why is a 

 " close stove" more injurious to the air of a room than 

 an open one ? Let us assume that the room is rea- 

 sonably tight, /. e., there is an average number of 

 apertures around doors, windows, through cracks in 

 plastered walls, and at the ends and sides of floors, 

 both below and above, for ventilation. 



The question is, which kind of stove, an open 

 Franklin, or a close one, will consume the more oxy- 

 gen in any given length of time ? Clearly, the stove 

 that burns the most wood will, in all cases, consume 

 the most vital air, in its combustion. If no fuel is 

 burned, then no oxygen is consumed in converting 

 carbon into carbonic acid — that is plain. But it may 

 be said that a close stove sends its carbonic acid into 

 the room, while the open one sends this deleterious gas 

 up chimney. This is the pith of all that is said against 

 these " little demons." When coals are burnt in an 

 iron kettle or furnace, in a close room, as has been 

 frequently done, then all tlie poisonous gases are dis- 

 charged into the atmosphere of the apartment, and a 

 few have lost their lives by their ignorance. But 

 anything worthy of the name of " stove," no matter 

 how close it is, conducts the products of combustion 

 out of the room ; and nothing is plainer than the fact, 

 that the less fuel it consumes, the less vital air is 

 transformed into carbonic acid and lost. Heated iron 

 consumes oxygen no farther than it is burnt, or oxi- 

 dized, which in nn iron stove ia next to nothing, in 

 the cour.se of twenty-four hours. A room warmed 

 entirely by hot iron, without any combu.stion, would be 

 perfectly healthy, provided there was one aperture of 

 reasonable size for the admission of fresh pure air. The 

 impure air can and will pass out at the same opening. 

 The idea that a room can only be ventilated, properly, 

 by an open fire place of brick or iron on one side of 

 it^ and a door open on the other, with a strong cur- 

 rent of air passing up the chimney, is a mistake. 

 Any place large enough for air to pass into a room, 

 is large enough for it to go out again. In case the 

 walls, floors, windows, and doors of a room are very 

 tight, some opening, made expressly for ventilation, 

 should be provided. This is done by valves, and 

 apertures through floors, bottom and top, through 

 doors or windows, or from the room into the chimney. 

 In case a dwelling is two or three stories, and warm 

 rooms are needed on each floor, there is considerable 

 economy in using a furnace in the basement, and 

 warming every room by pure, and duly moistened, 

 heated air. There is need of improvement in the 

 every day business of keeping rooms neither too cold 

 nor too hot, and the air never too dry nor impure. 

 Thousands take cold and get sick, by sitting or sleep- 

 ing in currents of cold, and often damp, air. All ex- 

 tremes in shutting out air, and letting it in, are to bo 



