278 ATMOSPHERE IN RELATION TO HUMAN LIFE AND HEALTH. 



glazed ware, glass, or metal, and the floors of close, hard wood or com- 

 mon tiles. The bacteriological examination of various wall and floor 

 surfaces, and of the air inclosed within thein, would be of great service 

 with a view to the prevention of organic deposit and emanations. 



4. Measles class. — Cleanliness of surroundings and ventilation are 

 required as in the last class. Isolation on the occurrence of the first 

 symptoms, use of glazed or washable materials for the room where a 

 case is treated and for the outer clothing of attendants, absence of car- 

 pets and hangings, and frequent thorough sweeping, cleaning, and air- 

 ing would greatly reduce the number of centers of infection. Where 

 many people work or meet together, the air must be kept as fresh as 

 possible. Influenza is best reduced by immediate isolation or segre- 

 gation of the flrst cases in any place, and by avoidance of meetings in 

 confined spaces. The distance of air, confined and open, through which 

 various infections common among mankind and animals can pass should 

 be determined by comparison of records and by actual experiments on 

 animals. 



The effects of the free air in healthy regions, neither very low nor 

 very high, neither very hot nor very cold, may be summed up as 

 supremely beneficial to human life and health. The most healthy 

 class of people are fishermen, sailors, and gardeners, yet some of these 

 are affected by close cabins, and others by surrounding zymotic dis- 

 eases. The most healthy creatures are the birds and wild animals in 

 fairly warm climates; a little less healthy are the sheep and oxen which 

 are never stalled; much less healthy are the stalled cattle and horses; 

 least healthy of all the higher orders of living beings are men in crowded 

 places. 



The conditions of greatest security against endemic and infectious 

 diseases are also the conditions which conduce most to robustness, 

 physical and mental vigor, and enjoyment. Outdoor life with sufficient 

 work or exercise can not, with impunity to the race, be forsaken for 

 purely intellectual and sedentary pursuits. 



IMPORTANCE OF FRESH AIR TO HORSES AND CATTLE. 



Mr. Fred. Smith, professor of the Army Veterinary School at Alder- 

 shot, has shown the great importance of fresh air to horses in stables. 

 The air of buildings in which animals are kept has received very little 

 attention except in the army, but the results obtained by better venti- 

 lation wherever tried are remarkable. Warmth derived from the ani- 

 mals only, in a cowshed or stable, is evidenae of foul air; ventilation 

 should be by good-sized opposite windows, and by roof-ridge exits; and 

 if necessary, artificial heating should be employed. Cubic capacity 

 per head should be 1,600 feet. The majority of preventable diseases 

 among animals are traceable to food and feeding, but "certainly next 

 to this comes impure air." By good ventilation and care for cleanliness 

 glanders has been entirely got rid of, a disease from which hundreds 



