454 [Assembly 



health, and the same reason why a vessel without a clean bill of 

 health, may not lie at our wharves, will apply to the dwellings in 

 the city. Every house should be required to have a clean bill of 

 health, or, like the ships, be placed under the control of the proper 

 officers. 



To raise from the depressed and poor, the heavy necessity of liv- 

 ing crowded in single rooms, the source as I have endeavored to 

 show of great moral, as well as physical evijs, much aid cannot, I 

 fear, be found in any legal enactment. If a family are so numerous 

 as to require separate rooms, and so poor as to be unable to pro- 

 cure them, no law on the subject could be enforced, which would 

 effectually prevent the evil. The remedy lies with the humane and 

 philanthropic capitalists, by whom houses might be erected with all 

 the comforts and conveniences of separate chambers, &c., which 

 would yield a fair interest on their value, and make thousands of 

 people happy. Here is a direction in M^hich a fortune might be 

 applied, which would produce an amount of happiness to the pos- 

 sessor, of good to the recipient, and benefit to the community, equal, 

 I have no doubt, to all that could be possibly obtained by a new line 

 of Atlantic steamers, though ever so successful. 



This subject has two points of consideration of especial value 

 with regard to the temperance reformation. An improvement in the 

 condition of the home of the laborer, will remove one of the temp- 

 tations 'to his frequent visits to the more comfortable and inviting 

 grog shops, while the substitution of a more invigorating and stim- 

 ulating atmosphere, will relieve in a considerable degree, the desire 

 for artificial stimulus. 



Atmospheric air is to the animal system, a powerful stimulant as 

 well as nutrient substance. In sufficient purity and copiousness, it 

 imparts a sustaining and vivifying power unequalled by any other 

 substance. Its vitalizing operations present one instance of the 

 wonderful adaptations of natural things to each other, but it is sin- 

 gularly striking, because of the immediate and incessant dependence 

 of animals upon it, for life and strength. Air, when pure, gives a 

 freshness and vigor, a tone to the nervous and muscular parts of the 

 system, productive of the highest degree of mental and physical en- 

 joyment. Without the tone thus imparted, the functions of the sys- 

 tem' become relaxed, and in addition, the animal spirits and feelings 

 become depressed and uneasy. To relieve this condition, nature in- 

 stinctively seeks some stimulating means. Many feed on mental ex- 



