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

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.

412/430 (page 378)

$Dyestuffs tioors are cold ; and like poor wooden floors they should be covered with linoleum, at least in the living-rooms and sleeping-rooms. The cause of dampness is not always easily established, but if depending upon poor construction it can be remedied only by alterations in the structure of the building. In such a case it is best to consult an authority, and not follow the advice of interested business ])eople who may advise some “ unfailing ” remedy. Dampness frequently results from some improper arrangement in a house. Rooms with thin walls will alwa^^s be damp in winter if not sufliciently heated, for the moisture in the atmosphere of the room will condense on the cool walls. \Mien a number of persons are together in a room, this dampness will be increased by the moisture which they throw off in breathing. Among the poorer classes, dampness in dwellings is often caused by allowing the doors connecting the living-rooms with the kitchen to remain o])en for the sake of utilising the heat from the range. The moisture from the cooking and washing pours from the kitchen into the adjoining rooms and condenses on the walls. During the first days of spring, ventilation should be undertaken very carefully, as the damp atmosphere of that season deposits moisture on the walls of poorly-heated rooms and makes them damp. Heating should, therefore, not be discontinued at the lirst approach of spring, but should be continued moderately, with an additional thorough ventilation. Newly-constructed houses are always damp, even when they appear to be dry. The only advantage they possess is that they have not been lived in like old houses. For reasons of health, however, occupancy is advisable only after a certain degree of drying, and then only with careful heating and ventilation in the winter time. When heating new houses, the windows must be kept closed ; the air is renewed by repeatedly opening the windows and doors for a few minutes at a time. While ventilating the rooms a steady heat should be maintained, so that the incoming dampness may be carried off. Every dwelling-place should have its own closet, which should be furnished with a window for light and air. If several households have one common closet, each family is apt to depend on the next one to keep it clean. Dark closets are not easy to keep clean, and those without windows con- taminate the atmosphere of the houses. The most hygienic closets are those with running water. Where such cannot be introduced, earth closets arc the next choice ; ])rovided, of course, that earth is really strewn, a process which unfortunately is generally neglected after a time. \\ hen the bathroom is furnished with a gas stove or geyser, this must be fitted with a pipe to carry off the gaseous products of combustion. The lack of such a waste-pipe has frequently caused poisoning (at times fatal) in consequence of the inhalation of the combustion products, even if in other respects the stove was jiropeiiy cared for.$