1850.] 



|THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



385 



VENTILATION AS A BRANCH OF SANITARY REFORM. 



On Ventilation as a Branch of Sanitary Reform. By AViluam 

 Walker, C.E., of Manchester. — (Paper read at the third meeting 

 of the Liver|iool Architectural and Archfeological Society, Novem- 

 ber 13th, v. Bai-ber, Esq., V.P., in tlie Chair.) 



Much had been said latterly about sanitary affairs, and the 

 public health was becoming a leading- topic of the day. AVe had 

 instituted Boards of Health and a Sanitary Commission; several 

 statesmen and men of influence, actuated by motives of philan- 

 throphy, had taken the question under their especial protection, 

 but, notwithstanding this, comparatively little had been done to 

 remedy the evils complained of. True it was, that during the 

 sway of the fatal epidemic last year, temporary expedients were 

 adopted, and a spur was given to sanitary progress. Since that 

 time more copious supplies of water to some large towns, and 

 some few drainage works for removing rapidly accumulating refuse 

 had been undertaken. In public l)uildings, too, of late years. 

 great attention had been paid to the ensuring of copious supplies 

 of air. The new Houses of Parliament, at Westminster, and St. 

 George's Ilall, in Liverpool, were the latest instances of this; the 

 latter of these buildings was, however, so far from completion, that 

 no trial had yet been made of such measures as were adopted 

 during the construction; and, if we might judge from tlie public 

 prints, doubts seemed to be entertained of their efficiency, so far 

 at least as miglit be im|)lied from tlie devoting of a sum of money 

 and a considerable period of time to the trial of further experi- 

 ments as to the best mode of ventilating it. 'i'he walls being appa- 

 rently completed, the question arose whether that was not begin- 

 ning at the wrong end, and whether the experiments ought not to 

 have preceded the construction, in order to obviate those difficul- 

 ties and expenses which must result should the experiments 

 involve a necessity for constructive alterations .'' 



Branching forth into the historical portion of his subject, Mr. 

 Walker said, that if we carried the ploughsliare of researcli into 

 the early days of architecture and engineering, we should find 

 much to astonish us in the progress made by '• the world's grey 

 forefathers" in the arts conducive to health. The Roman aque- 

 ducts furnished magnificent testimony to the care bestowed by the 

 ancients on cleanliness as a means of healtli ; and Greece, also, 

 made similar provision for her people. The system of sewerage 

 adopted by the Romans was of the most efficient and extensive 

 character. They did not enter into tierce debate whether a six- 

 inch or a niue-iuch pipe would suffice, the minimum system not 

 being in force in tliose days, but they took care that if they erred, 

 the error should be on the side of excess rather tlian of deficiency. 

 We were imly just beginning to establish public batlis for all 

 classes, and it was thought to be a great step in advance — but both 

 the Greeks and Romans, and probalily the Egyptians before them, 

 had theirs; and tlie art of heating their buildings and their baths 

 was not unknown to the luxurious Romans. As to the change of 

 air (the more immediate object of this essay), there did not 

 appear to be any special provision for that purpose adopted bv tlie 

 ancients, except by the windows. Change of^ air was deemed by 

 Vitruvius to be of the greatest importance, but his directions 

 a|iplied almost exclusively to external provisions and arrange- 

 ments. The moderns had only recently begun to follow the ancient 

 practice of jiroviding <)])en air walks or public parks for the peo- 

 ple in large towns, but so far they were on a very inefficient scale ; 

 their great distance from the spots where tlie day was spent in 

 toil, rendering the fatigue of reaching them a great barrier to their 

 use. Tills olijection was anticipated by the Romans, who provided 

 them at all their bathing establishments, theatres, and other places 

 of great public resort. During the '• dark ages," nhich succeeded 

 the decline and fall of the Roman empire, these and many other 

 arts, if not entirely lost and forgotten, fell, at least, into iieglect 

 and desuetude ; and from that long period of sanitary darkness we 

 were only now, by slow degrees, emerging. 



The two natural fluids chiefly concerned in the sanitary art were 

 water and air. The first of these — water — was jirovided for our 

 use in the greatest abundance— three-fourths of the surface of our 

 planet being covered with it ; but air was provided for us in an 

 infinitely greater abundance even than water, the entire surface 

 of the globe being covered with it to the height of about fifty 

 miles. 



After treating of the chemical properties of air, Mr. A\'alker 

 came at ouce to the subject of Ventilation, which he took to imply 

 motion of air; aud where there was motion there must be a 

 mover. In the great process by which the earth was ventilated, 



heat was the mover, and its effects met with no interruption from 

 opposing circumstances. The earth was not closely hemmed in by 

 other planets, which might obstruct those movements; nor could 

 the inequalities of its own surface offer any serious impediment to 

 the free progress of those enormous volumes of air, compared with 

 whose vastness the highest mountains and deepest valleys might be 

 regarded as almost a level surface. This was natural ventilation, and 

 as in all the processes of art the imitation of nature was our primary 

 rule, so should we best succeed in ventilation by adopting her mea- 

 sures and following her infallible processes. But we must ever bear 

 in mind thar we were not ventilatinga smooth, free, and unobstructed 

 ball like the earth. Our art was to be exercised upon the artificial 

 and complicated works of man, who surrounded himself with walls 

 which other men surrounded with other walls; who protected him- 

 self from the inclement winter by transparent inclosures; who in 

 progressive stories heaped one liuilding on another; who, in fact, 

 multiplied artificial contrivances for other purposes, each one of 

 which removed him further from a state of nature; whose arts, 

 forms, and usages brought large numbers into an unnaturally small 

 space, and who must therefore use further artifice to obtain that 

 natural supply of the vital element, which his previous wants and 

 proceedings shut him out from. Ventilation was not simply a 

 summer question. At all seasons of the year we must have air. 

 Not only must it be sup])lied, but means must be resorted to to 

 obtain it at a proper temperature, and to introduce it into our rooms 

 and around our persons in an unobjectionable manner. These con- 

 siderations at once set at defiance all those numerous devices of the 

 "passive" or (so-called) " natural class," which consisted in ad- 

 mitting air directly into rooms through openings in the windows or 

 external walls. In the rigours of ivinter they afforded no means of 

 modifying its coldness, and those who might have, inadvertently, to 

 sit near them would testify to the injurious result. Most of them, 

 indeed, carried with them their own refutation, being provided 

 with means by which they might be entirely closed ; and so far as 

 his o]iportunities of investigation had gone, they were mostly very 

 judiciously kept closed in very severe weather. AVindow ventila- 

 tors were also open to another very serious objection, which was 

 that in the evening, when dwelling-rooms were most closely inha- 

 bited, the gas lighted, and vitiation in its fullest force, that was the 

 precise time when the closing of the shutters put a total stop to the 

 action of the ventilators. All modes of admitting air iu winter 

 which did not proceed on the principle of modifying its temperature 

 at or before the moment of its entering, would, however much 

 diffused the openings might be, produce great inequalities of tem- 

 perature, and frequently also cold and dangerous draughts of air. 

 Mr. W^alker then proceeded to point out how large quantities of 

 fresh air might be introduced with certainty into the various com- 

 jiartments of a building, illustrating his views by some examples 

 which had been carried out. In nearly every case constructive 

 preparations had been necessary : the mode of obtaining air had 

 been considered when the building was originally planned, and by 

 the concert thus established between the architect and the ventila- 

 tor, successful results had been obtained at a minimum cost. 



iNlr. Walker deferred till a future occasion the more practical 

 part of his subject, which would refer chiefly to the means, con- 

 structive and otherwise, which would ensure a supply of air being 

 obtained in projier quantity, manner, aud condition. 



lieniarkx. — Mr. Rawlinson (Inspector to the General Board of 

 Health) said this was a subject that he had paid special attention 

 to for some time, and he niight, perha]is, be allowed to make a 

 few remarks iipcui it. He <iuite agreed with Mr. Walker, that it 

 was time architects took up the subject, and that ventilation should 

 be considered in the structure of buildings. If it was necessary 

 to put a roof upon four walls, it was quite as imperative to make 

 provision for the due regulation and escape of air. Any attem]its 

 at ventilation after the house had been occupied, or even the 

 adoption of so-called ''ventilators," in chimney breasts, were mere 

 make-shifts. They did not give that which was required — namely, 

 full, free, copious, and safe ventilation. To be safe, ventilation 

 must be diffused; it must also be perfectly under contnd. He had no 

 hesitation in saying that a well-built house of modern construction, 

 in the metropolis or Liverpool, was the most dangerous tenement 

 that a man could put liis liead into. He lived in a London house, 

 which was so well built that the door vilirated like an j'Eolian harp. 

 AVhen he sat by tlie fire writing, he had to resort to the expedient 

 of turning a bucket the wrong side up to put his feet upon, ih 

 order to escape the ill effects of the draught, the fireplace being 

 low. He had no doubt that many literary men who became ab- 

 sorbed in their subject, and got their heads heated whilst their feet 

 were cold, from the draughts which crept along the floor, had their 



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