1870-1871.] PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS. 295 



months were by far the lowest in the death-rate; but at 

 Montreal the soil charged with fetid matter formed " (except 

 during the merciful winter-frost) an incessant poison-factory: " 

 and the older sewers and drains, formed of wood which soon 

 grew putrid, seemed 66 an express contrivance for conveying 

 the ordinary air-poisons, and the extraordinary infections of 

 small-pox, scarlatina, etc., into every part of the city j " while 

 in Boston "the sanitary laws are good, and faithfully executed. 7 ' 

 In 1870-71 " measures were taken to collect and discuss 

 the various plans in use, in this city and elsewhere, for the 

 ventilation and drainage of dwellings;" and English and French 

 meetings were held at the Natural History Hall, and the Union 

 St. Joseph, which continued for some weeks, and were fully 

 reported in the daily papers. There was a remarkable differ- 

 ence of opinion on these subjects: — "One intelligent gentle- 

 man would carry the used air of one room into another, and 

 thence to a third, in order to economize heat; under the 

 impression that as water becomes filtered by flowing, air would 

 be purified by circulating up and down a house ! " Philip 

 published a paper of " Practical Suggestions on the Ventilation 

 and Drainage of Canadian Dwellings," showing the danger 

 attending those "modern improvements" which distinguish 

 town dwellings from rough country-houses ; and describing the 

 arrangements which " can be carried out in the first building of 

 a house, at so trifling an extra cost, that their neglect is totally 

 inexcusable." He ends by saying, "A man's religion is not 

 worth much, if he injures the health of his tenants in order to 

 save a little money, or to avoid taking trouble. ... If property 

 has its rights, much more has it its duties ; if we neglect these, 

 it is at the peril of our souls." 



In their Fifth Report, they could say, " Our oft-repeated 

 facts are now generally accepted by the writers in the public 

 Press, even by those who take care to disconnect them from 

 our Association. In the Council there has been, during the 

 five years, a very marked and even rapid growth of senti- 

 ment in favour of our principles. From the officers of our 

 governing body, and from the Health Committee, we have 



