[The dwelling-house in relation to health : a lecture] / by Henry Simpson.

  • Henry Simpson
Date:
[between 1800 and 1899?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: [The dwelling-house in relation to health : a lecture] / by Henry Simpson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    of endless variety, some quaint, some sad almost beyond words to express, and others happily suggestive of all that heart could wish. And we should be struck with the fact that there would be no need to go back to ancient times, or to travel to distant lands, to see simplicity and rudeness in the dwelling of man, for in our own day, and in these British Isles, almost the whole series could be illustrated. Now the purpose for which all creatures make themselves a dwelling is protection, but not exclusion, from the outer air, and from the various changes of temperature and weather. But though man needs protection both from cold and heat, from storm and tempest, it is essential to his well-being that there should be free communication with the outer air, which is indeed the breath ot life, and without which all life would cease. Then, too, the dwelling must be provided with means for carry-1 ing away noxious gases, for the removal of all liquid or solid : offensive matters, and it must likewise be dry; the rain must be | kept out from above, and damp must not creep up from below. , There must be free circulation of air round the dwelling, good ventilation through it; it must be well built and well drained, and therefore a dry house. These conditions appear simple, and yet they are rarely fulfilled. On the other hand, man, even as he is found in our own country, in our own day, is far too often doing all in his power to interfere with nature's requirements, and to evade or obstruct the carrying out of the laws of health ; which, by the way, are not laws devised by doctors or any other set of men, but God's laws, which we must abide by or reap the consequences certain to follow their neglect, such as disease, shortened life, and the physical and moral degeneration of the race. I am to-night addressing many who are unable to pay high rents, or to be very choice as to where their house is placed. Convenience, nearness to work, and cheapness, are often thought : more of than those points that have a bearing on health; for people are apt to forget that ill-health is the most costly luxury a poor man can indulge in. It does not follow, however, that a house, though ever so costly, must therefore necessarily be constructed on good principles as to health, and sometimes the very reverse is true. Going back to the few conditions I mentioned just now, let us consider the first—free circulation of air round the dwelhng. In country districts and in villages, this is much more possible than in large towns, where land becomes of enormous value, and where the object of the builder is too often to pack his houses as 1
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