SCIENCE IN EVERY-DAY LIFE. 



]?v Rev. H. N. HUTCHINSON, B.A„ I'.G.S., F.Z.S. 



In the opinion of the present writer, one of the 

 first things to be done by women of the upjier 

 and middle classes, is to abolisli the pri\ate 

 kitchen. Such a [ilan would sa\'e space in the 

 house: a sittint^-room for domestics is hi^hl\- 

 desirable, and the kitchen could be ma(k- nito 

 such a room. It would save a \'ast amount of 

 trouble. anxiet\" and worry. In every street there 

 should be a large kitchen and confectioner's shop. 

 The lad\' of the house could, each da\'. order her 

 meals bv telephone, and the food could be sent out 

 in wooden boxes for each meal, just as dinners and 

 suppers are ])rovided b\- the college kitchens of 

 Oxford or Cambridge. The w riter has advocated this 

 plan for thirt\- \'ears: but the habits of a nation are 

 not easih- changed. The waste in\-olved in private 

 kitchens is enormous. Food would be of the best 

 under this plan, and it would afford a much greater 

 range of choice. Companies could be started to 

 suppl\- this great want, and contracts might be 

 made quarterh" or yearh". Let the ladies seriously 

 consider this proposal, for it is certainly within their 

 power to devise wa\'s of carr\'ing it out. 



The danger of fire is considerable, and yet few 

 householders take an\- [irecautions to diminish the 

 risk. There is no need to go to an\' great expense; for 

 hand fire extinguishers can now be obtained at 

 reasonable prices. Two or three fire-buckets might 

 be placed on a landin;;. A Ik ise-pi])i.' from the bath- 

 room might be etf"ecti\e at the beginning of a fire. 

 In tall London houses, a good ])lan is to pro\ide one 

 of the top bedrooms with a long rope, so that the 

 inmates could let themselves down to tlie ground. 

 .\ stout hook should be fixed just abo\e the window. 



Young people are inclined to be careless al)Out 

 their clothing, and in this matter parents should see 

 to it that their sons and daughters do not risk their 

 lives bv wearing thin garments in the spring time, 

 or in the cool evenings of Ma\- and June. By such 

 simple precautions much lung disease, rlicuniatism. 

 and so on, might be axoideii. It neeti hartih' be 

 said that certain fashions, i.e.. high-heeled boots, are 

 scientifically wrong and absurd. But probably no 

 considerations of this kind \vill have the slightest 

 influence in modif\'ing a foolish fashion, unolving 

 serious danger to the human bodw We therefore 

 pass on to the subject of " air." People talk much 

 about ventilation, especialK- in public rooms and 

 places of entertainment, but at the same time such 

 people often pay little attention to the \'entilation of 

 their houses or flats, or it may be lodgings. In all 

 our big towns thousands of people live much of their 

 lives in stuffy little rooms, where they cannot possiblv 

 get all the air they need to keep in health and 

 to digest their food. Of late }ears there has 

 been marked improvement in tliis matter, owing 



to the greater use of electricitx' for lighting pur- 

 poses. But one still sees many rooms (often 

 of but small size) lighted bv gas. Now this is 

 really a grave e\il. and the cause of an immense 

 amount of ill-health and suffering. Those who 

 li\e in such rooms are simph' breathing poisoned 

 air, all the time that the gas is burning ! What it 

 means those who have learned a little chemistry can 

 readilv comprehend. Lach gas-burner is pouring 

 into the room a constant stream of carbonic acid 

 and sulphur dioxide, two poisonous gases. Fortu- 

 nately a little air enters from under the door, drawn 

 liy the heat of the fire, otherwise the inmates of the 

 room would be suffocated. Such a use of gas ought 

 to be strictly forbidden. B\' a sim[)le plan, which 

 the writer has often advocated, this gra\e evil can be 

 a\'oided. An\- plumber or builder could easilv devise 

 a method of drawing away all gaseous products of 

 decomposition. One plan would be to have the 

 lights in the ceiling, but enclosed, as is often 

 seen in railwa\' carriages. Another wa\' would be 

 to provide a fairl\- large glass or metal funnel to 

 hang o\er each gas bracket — to the top of this funnel 

 a pipe could be fixed of sufficient diameter to take 

 away all the foul air, either into the chimney or 

 through a hole in the ^\■all. Central chandeliers might 

 b:- taken awa\' altogether, and their place supplied by 

 the Ceiling light, as described aboN'e. A third 

 de\ ice wiuihl be small brackets on the walls, each 

 enclosed m an artistic glass case, with pipes to 

 conduct the bad air to the chimnex'. or through the 

 walls to the outside. In this simple manner the au^ 

 of our rooms might be kept just as pure and 

 h\sh as in cases where electricity is the light- 

 ing agent. Xo matches need be used, for ever\- 

 biu'iier woidd be [Provided with a b\'-pass, for 

 lighting and tor turning down, and, of course, incan- 

 descent mantles should be adopted on account ot 

 the increased light the\- afford. Builders of small 

 houses shoukl be compelled b\" law to provide for 

 some such plan. or. at least, gas-fitters should be 

 forbidden to fit gas-burners in such a way that the 

 products of combustion cannot be led away from the 

 rooms. If householders would adopt this sim[)Ie 

 plan the\ would not only get their rooms lighted 

 cheaplw but the\- would help to make it more largely 

 used, and so. before long, obtain a considerable reduc- 

 tion in the price thereof; also explosions would be 

 almost impossible. 



With regard to the heating of houses we are 

 workiuij on wrong lines. The usual method is 

 unsatisfactorx in every sense {except artistically) and 

 quite unscientific. So here is a matter in which 

 teforin is greath' needed. The use of coal in fire- 

 places not onl\- cau.ses smoke with all its grave evils. 



but iinohx's a waste that is truK piodigious 



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