The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1859-11-03

duce immediate death, and that air con-
tanning only half this propotion OF corbon-
'c acid, will prove fatal in few hours.
DR.. d. B. Reid, who for fifteen years
superintendent the ventilation of the House
OF Parliament intimated that not less than
ten cubic feet Of fresh air per minute was
necessary for each person, and ip the House
he provided for supply Of much more than
that amount, in some cases sixty cubic feet
for each person per minute. In IL recent
report made to the General Board of Health
in England, by a commission Of medical
and scientific men appointed to examine
into the subject and printed by order Of
the House Of Commons, it is recommcn-
ded that IN the rooms of private houses,
provision be made for supplying from fif-
teen to twenty cubic feet Of fresh air per
minute for each inmate, and for the extac-
ton tf an equal amount of vitiated air,
by openings at or near the ceiling. Miss
Florence Nightingale, in a paper read be-
fore the Health Section of the Association
of Social Science, at Liverpool last Octo-
Der, said that the introduction of twenty.
five cubic feet of fresh air for each person
per minute, is necessary for perfect health
In the United States, within the last half
century, ar entire change has taken place
IN the manner of warming our houses, bv
which not only the quantity of ventilation
or change and renewal of air in our rooms
has been greatly diminished, but 10y which
the quality of the air, Independent of the
effect Of respiration is directly dcteriorated
The universal method of warming our
rooms, 60 or 70 years ago, was by large
open fire places. With our forcfalhers,
these were often six or seven feet wide and
as many high.
In these large wood fires were built, pro.
ducng strong and rapid Iraught up the
capaclous chimney, and ms all the air which
was continually drawn up the chimney
must he replaced by fresh air from without,
rushing in through every crack and GRANNY,
our ancestors without knowing the neces
sity or even the name of ventilation. eniov-
ell five times and PERHAPS ten times as muck
change aud renewal Of air in their houses
as 90 their descendants at the present dav
with our moderate improvement for ecouo-
mizing fuel.
In an interesting History Of New York
from its Earliest Settlement to the Present
Time" published this year, we are told of
the inhabitants Of New York century
ago: Stoves were never dreamed of by
the worthy knckc booker, but in their
stead they had the cheerful Fireplace, some
times extending almost across the room,
with It's large backlog, and glowing fire OF
hickory wood. In the evening, the children
grouped in the spacious chimney corners,
telling stories and cracking nuts by the
blazing pine knots" The authoress tells
us that the kitchen fire place was, if posi-.
bic, still more capaclous, being large enough
to have allowed Of an OK being roasted
whole. DR.. Q. J. B. Williams, F. r. S., the
standard medical author, also speaks of the
"roaring pile Of wood on the spacious
hearth, that supplied abundant ventilation
TO the houses OF our forefathers," and re-
grets the change to the smal.thrcated CRATE.
and worse still, the close stove Of recent
times. Indeed, it is within the memory Of
every person who has attained to the age
Of 90 or 70 years, when stoves were rarely
seen. From that time to the present, their
use has been constantly increasing, and
every year becoming more close and nearer
air'tight, and at the present day we find
them almost every where's
Stoves produce the least possible amount
of ventilation by draught indeed it is in
appreclable; hence the air in room so
heated is slagnant, and constantly becomes
more and more loaded and poisoned with
carbonic acid gas, and the decayins pu,res-
cent particles Of animal matter, either solid
or fluid, which are exlialed from the lungs
and skin of each adult person every min
ute, and mingle with the surrounding air,
and which must accumulate more and more
hour after hour, in proportion to the mum
bers congregated in such room. The air
OF perfectly close room, in which half a
dozen persons should pass twenty -four hours
would, at the end Of that time, could the
functions Of life be properly carried on in
such an atmosphere, be found to contain
about eighteen pounds Of carbonic acid gas
and eighteen pounds Of effete decaying
fluid anG solid animal matter. The steam
heating apparatus, as generally arranged,
affords absolutely no ventilation. The air
in such rooms is utterly stagnant, and is
breatl,ed and re-breathed with all its accu-
mutation Of fetid impurities from the lungs
and skin Of the inmates. Each person in
such rooms is constantly taking into the
moth ard down his throat, the old decay