Health abroad : a medical handbook of travel / by C. Harford Battersby [and others] ; edited by Edmund Hobhouse.
- Date:
- 1899
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Health abroad : a medical handbook of travel / by C. Harford Battersby [and others] ; edited by Edmund Hobhouse. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![avoided, especially when it is known that Africans gene- rally bury their dead very close to the surface. Sufficient space should be allowed around the house, and the position of out-houses settled before the house is actually built. The question of water supply is a matter of primary importance, and in many cases it may be neces- sary to adopt plans for the storage of rain-water. Gal- vanised iron tanks are the best for this purpose. They should be fitted with suitable lids and cleaned at regular intervals. It is good to have culivated land around a house, and arrangements should be made for adequate drainage, especially important in view of the heavy rains of the wet season. The bush should be cleared away from the neighbour- hood of a house, for, if this is not done, it will become a place for the disposal of all kinds of refuse. ^ As to the building of the house itself, it will not be possible to enter into many details. A few general principles should be borne in mind : 1. It is generally best that the living, and particulaily the sleeping, rooms of a house should be raised above the ground, but this is essential in low-lying districts. 2. Where possible, stone or brick will be found the best material for building, as wood necessitates very frequent repairs. 3. The great problem in Africa is how to keep a house cool without being draughty. In order to attain this result two points should be specially attended to : (a) the roof, and (]>) the verandah. (u) Since corrugated iron is the simplest and mosi useful method of roofing, a wooden ceiling should be erected, having a considerable air-space between it and the iron, and a further improvement consists in a lining of felt underneath the iron.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28139355_0138.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
