Volume 1

The standard physician : a new and practical encyclopaedia of medicine and hygiene especially prepared for the household / edited by Sir James Crichton-Browne [and others].

Date:
1908-1909
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The standard physician : a new and practical encyclopaedia of medicine and hygiene especially prepared for the household / edited by Sir James Crichton-Browne [and others]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    one. Houses witli dark stairs cannot he kept clean, and, the atmosphere not being pure, such houses are hurtful to live in. The number of available looms must depend upon the individual means. The sleeping-rooms must be chosen with special care, not so much so the living-rooms or the working- rooms. Too much stress cannot be laid upon the importance of the sleeping- 1 oom being the largest, sunniest, and aiiiest room m the house ] for the greater pait of ones life is spent in that loom. Ijiifortunately, even among the wealthy classes, the best rooms are chosen for show' rooms, and are sacrificed to the comfort of visitors ; whereas the rooms chosen as bedrooms (wdiich are not seen by the visitoi) are often the most miserable holes, lacking light and ventilation. Hut the penalty comes in the shape of doctor's and druggist's bills. The minimum quantity of air in the bedrooms of children under ten years of age should be 5 cubic metres ; for adults it must be twice as much. The soldier in the barracks is allowed 15 to 16 cubic metres of air space. Where servants are kept, these also should have decent, healthy sleeping-quarters. This is a matter of course, but one wdiich, unfortunately, especially in large cities, is neglected both in regard to the construction of the houses and the disposition made of the rooms hy the occupant. Basement dwellings are often dark, and are damp and gloomy owing to insufficient ventilation. A basement built wdth substantial, independent walls, with a light-shaft reaching to the foundation, and having large, high windows, is less objectionable. Attics are hot in summer on account of their thin walls, and cold in winter. They cause greater mortality among young children than any other kind of living-place. The W'alls of rooms may be covered with paper, or painted. In new buildings the walls should not be covered until at least one year after their erection. If covered sooner, the great quantities of moisture winch enter the w'alls wiiile the building is in construction cannot evaporate; and the covering greatly retards the drying of the w'alls, which, in consequence, become damp and mouldy, and contaminate the air with their musty odour. Instead of being papered, the walls of a new' building may be painted with water-colours, W'hich do not interfere with the drying and which give the rooms an agreeable appearance. Arsenic poisoning from w'all-coverings was formerly not a rare occur- rence, w'hen these were manufactured with arsenic dyes. At present such a possibility exists only in rooms where a new' covering has been pasted over an old one containing arsenic. It'‘is advisable every tw'o years to clean wall-papers with bread. This w'ill show' how muclLdust and dirt has accumu- lated on the paper. The floors of houses should be smooth and have close seams. Broad seams favour the accumulation of dust, and allow' the scrubbing-w'ater to run betw'een the ridges, where it may decompose and cause a disagreeable odour. The best flooring is one made of parquetry embedded in tar. Stone