GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 7 



iness, not only with reference to the constitution of human beings general!)', 

 but they differ as to their suitableness for persons affected with, or constitu- 

 tionally liable to, particular diseases. The subject embraces elevation, cha- 

 racter of surface, exposure, aspect, soil, subsoil, climate and character of the 

 weather, water, and a general capacity for improvement. 



4. Elevation. — In the neighbourhood of towns, where the air is always more 

 or less charged with smoke, an elevated site will always be found to have the 

 clearest atmosphere ; and, for persons in good health, it is generally allowed, 

 that the atmosphere should not only be free from impurities, but free from more 

 than the average quantity of water held in suspension in the given climate. In 

 valleys and low situations, there is always a larger proportion of water in the 

 atmosphere than in situations which are high, and have a dry soil and sub- 

 soil ; and for these reasons, an elevated situation, for strong healthy pei'sons, 

 provided all other things be agreeable, should be selected. On the contrary, 

 where the constitution of the intending occupant or his family has a tendency 

 to consumption, a low situation, with a somewhat moist atmosphere, is prefer- 

 able ; or, in the case of asthma, an intermediate position, sheltered, and with 

 a comparatively warm climate. In choosing a situation with reference to the 

 height of the surface, its absolute elevation is sometimes of less consequence 

 than the facilities which it affords for the free circulation of air. A situation 

 may be hilly, and yet so covered with high trees, that the air, except in win- 

 ter, when the trees are not in leaf, becomes stagnated and chai-ged with 

 watery exhalations from the ground, which is kept damp by the shade, and 

 by the transpiration from the leaves of the trees. Dry ground, on a lower 

 level, but open and exposed to the influence of the sun and the winds, is 

 obviously healthier than a situation of this description. A situation may 

 also be elevated, and yet not healthy, from its soil being naturally damp ; 

 and, on this account, if the walls of the house have not been built in such a 

 manner as to prevent the damp from ascending through them, it may be 

 inferior in point of healthiness to a lower situation where the soil is dry. 



5. A loiv situation near the sea, or close on its shore, is almost always 

 healthy ; whether on a coast, like that of the west of England and Scotland, 

 exposed to moist winds, or like that on the east of both countries, which is 

 chiefly exposed to dry winds. The reason seems to be, that the air, in both 

 cases, does more good by its bracing properties, than injuiy by the excess of 

 moisture in the one case, or the deficiency of moisture in the other. On the 

 other hand, elevated situations on surfaces covered with peat bog, or with 

 marshy, wet, springy soil, are generally unhealthy. The banks of a sluggish 

 river are unwholesome, while those of a river with a rapid current are the con- 

 trary. The beauty of the view or prospect, or the circumstance of there being or 

 not being a prospect, is a subject of consideration so obviously depending on 

 elevation, that it only requires to be mentioned. Scarcely any object that 

 can be created within the boundary wall of a small spot can compensate for 

 the want of a distant prospect, to a general admirer of landscape; and, on 

 the contrary, no distant prospect, however beautiful it may be, can compen- 

 sate to a lover of plants, for the want of a good garden : the beau ideal is to 

 unite both ; but, as this can rarely be done, it is for the proprietor to seek 

 after the nearest approximation to it that he can find, or to choose which of 

 these desiderata he considers preferable. 



6. Character of surface. — An irregular surface is always attended by an 



