394 THE ZAMBEZIAN CLIMATE 



supplied himself with his mischievous germ, and 

 can take measures to strike boldly at the root of 

 the evil. 



But even as we now find it, much may be done 

 to avoid fever on the one hand, or so to lessen the 

 mahgnity of its attacks that they do not inflict 

 much injury upon the system. The first necessity 

 is a good, comfortable, double-storied house. This 

 should be well ventilated and furnished with an 

 upstairs verandah twelve feet in width, mosquito- 

 proofed all the way round with efficient, small- 

 mesh copper net. Even the selection of the site 

 is an important matter, and care should be taken to 

 avoid low levels, especially in the vicinity of stagnant 

 water or clay soil. I always think that the best 

 positions are those from which water runs off, or 

 into which it sinks easily. In this way nothing 

 could be better than sand, which, if the depth be 

 sufficient, not only affiards the best possible founda- 

 tion, but is extremely healthy. Then, ventilation 

 is a point which often does not receive sufficient 

 attention. Pure air is of the highest consequence, 

 especially in the sleeping rooms. That the atmo- 

 sphere of a bedchamber is impure is not always 

 perceptible to its occupant ; yet not only the air 

 breathed, which is thus deprived of its oxygen, but 

 the impurities thrown off by the skin, gases pro- 

 duced by the flames of candles, and lastly, the in- 

 visible forms of life contained in almost everything 

 the apartment holds, produce a necessity for a 

 constant supply of pure air, and for the removal 

 of that heated and vitiated in the process of 

 consumption. 



