FARM BUILDINGS. 285 



A farm-house which is built upon a damp soil, or in a nar- 

 row spot overlooked by surrounding heights, is always un- 

 healthy ; the exhalations which arise from such spots become 

 stagnant, and the inhabitants are continually surrounded by 

 a moist atmosphere loaded with animal emanations, and 

 with those arising from all the substances which are liable 

 to be decaying in the neighbourhood of a dwelling. The 

 greater part of the maladies with which the inhabitants of 

 the country are afflicted, are occasioned by the dampness of 

 their habitations. 



When, from the nature of the land and other circumstan- 

 ces, no dry and airy spot can be appropriated for the erection 

 of the necessary buildings, the evil should be lessened as 

 much as possible by attention to certain precautions and ar- 

 rangements : in all such cases the house or houses designed 

 to lodge the work-people should be built over a cellar, and 

 all should be well aired by means of large doors, windows, 

 and other openings. Nor are these precautions, though of 

 the first consequence, all that is necessary ; there are others 

 that it is indispensable to attend to constantly, in order to se- 

 cure health ; amongst these is the digging of ditches to carry 

 oflf stagnant water and dry the soil, and the transporting to 

 a distance from the habitation, of all such substances as are 

 susceptible of putrefactiori. 



Constant dampness in a house is destructive not only to 

 health, but to every thing employed in a household, such as 

 provision, clothes, &c. : this cause alone is often enough to 

 ruin a family. 



Those who are so unfortunate as to be condemned to live 

 in such places, should employ every means in their power to 

 counteract the evils arising from dampness ; they should not 

 remain long, either day or night, in those parts of a building 

 where fires are not constantly made ; it would even be use- 

 ful to burn a little straw occasionally in the middle of the in- 

 habited apartments, as this would serve to purify and change 

 the air. 



The greatest degree of cleanliness should be observed in 

 the interior of these habitations ; no substance which is lia- 

 ble to be decomposed, should be allowed to remain in them ; 

 the walls, planks, and furniture should be carefully rubbed 

 to remove the dampness which they so easily imbibe. With 

 such precautions the unhealthfulness of a house may be 

 much lessened. 



The dwellings of animals become even more easily in 



