The Sun.
London, England, 1861-07-08 00:00:00

THE SCIENCE AND UTILITY OF

VENTIL ATI ON .

A lecture on this interesting topic was delivered
at the Hanover-square Rooms, on Wednesday, by
Professor Pepper, well known as the late scientific
and enterprising conductor of the Polytechnic
Institution, Regent-street. The fame of the lec-
turer and the importance of his subject brought
together a numerous and fashionable audience, and
the lecture was, in the hands of Professor Popper,
made to embrace the whole science of the subject
of ventilation in its relation to health and the
general condition of civilised life. The lecturer
commenced by referring to the historyof ventilation,
and traced the first rude attempts of the Egyptians,
the Grecians, and the Romans, many years before
the beginning of the Christian era, to obtain ven-
tilation and coolness in the summer, and an escape
for the smoke of their fires in the winter.
Thus it appeared that the science of ventilation
was early understood, and earnest efforts were
made to reduce it to practice by the learned men
of those nations. The topic was introduced in the
writings of teeny of the old Roman poets. The
ancients made certain apertures or holes in their
buildings for the purpose of ventilation; chimneys
were not invented till about the twelfth or four-
teenth century. Having thus complied with the
requirements of a history-loving people, Mr.
Pepper proceeded to the broad and modern prin-
ciples of ventilation, which are based upon the
well-known law of the expansion of all bodies,
solid, liquid, or gaseous, by heat, and their contrac-
tion by cold. In illustration of this principle, a
variety of interesting experiments v, ere per-
formed, exhibiting conclusively the action of this
rigid and unswerving natural law, which by the
application of artificial means and contrivances is
made subservient to the necessities of civilization.
The iron rod, the professor showed by actual
experiment, when heated in the boiling water, re-
fused to re-enter the guagc till restored to its former
temperature ; water rose in the thermometer by the
application of heat; and a balloon filled with warm
air by means of Leslie's glass stove ascended to the
ceiling till the air became cool, when it immediately
collapsed, and descended upon the heads of the
audience. Proceeding thus, step by step, from the
very elements of the science, we were gradually led
up to its more intricate and subtle workings; and the
various systems of ventilation now in vogue in the
Houses of Parliament, in public buildings, dwelling-
houses, and coalmines were severally brought under
the notice of the audience, and illustrated by various
mod
models and experiments. The importance of ventila-
tion in its relation to human health was clearly pointed
out and further illustrated by reference to an able
paper written by Miss Florence Nightingale in the
transactions of the Society for Promoting Social
Science. This lady's hospital experience was most
valuable in pointing out the necessity for a continu-
ous supply of fresh air, and plenty of it, for nothing
could produce a more deleterious effect in the con-
dition of the sick than a limited and impure supply
of this healthy element. The danger of catching
cold had been greatly exaggerated, more Gape,-
cially in a country like England, where fuel is
cheap, and where the patient may be sufficiently
protected by an ample supply of clothing. No-
thing could compensate for a deficient supply of
air ; no artificial means would suffice ; the only
real remedy was to throw open the windows,
and so obtain a plentiful inlet (Apure air. The nos-
pitals in Paris, though ample, and even magnifi-
cent in their dimensions, Mr. Pepper pointed out,
were incapable of conferring the whole of their pos-
sible and intended advantages, from the simple
reason that the ventilation was carried on by arti-
ficial means. In the morning, when the wards were
opened, they were found to contain a close and
vitiated atmosphere, which was sure to exercise an
unsalutary effect on the health of the patients.
The simplest inventions in all matters of science
were generally those of the widest practical utility.
The inventions of Roscommon and Watt in the
steam engine were unsurpassed in the simplicity of
their action and their usefulness. The invention
of the screw propeller consisted of nothing
more than the application of one of the
most elementary laws of mechanics ; and
the grandest and most wonderful discove-
ries of the age had not depended, as a rule, upon
deep and abstruse researches into science, but the
application by practical men of first and simple
principles. For an illustration it was not necessary
to look further than the safety lamp of Davy, or
the self-recording telegraph of Lardner. While dis-
coveries, which had offered a broad field for every
scientific researcher in the kingdom were floating
in the minds of the astute and learned of all classes,
Humphrey Davy electrified
.the whole of these
savants by the production of his miner's safety lamp,
which was practically nothing more than an inc o-
sfauerte, oafn tahpepfiliacio
inmate n a shade
of fine galuazi em; 1
eisns
of a principle wire
whose p
philosopher s pred ct
ecessors(li.
and simplicity had. rendered it an
'obje of s
regard to all this eminent phi
But the object was attained, and the miner enabled
to leave his lamp burning in the mine, or to carry
it with him into any atmosphere where he himself