The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1871-08-10
VENTILATION.

conditions OF lie, irrespective OF enOrts
I nasde to enlighten the people upon its evil
consequences, prompts us to keep the
!, .Itr,lmpet sounding in hopes of attracting
!. more general attention to this very essen
= tiaf condition of health.
-. Pure air is as essentially requisite to the
! health and yigor of the animal system as
wholesome food and drink. When con-
ataminated by stagnation, by breathing, by
!. fires, by candles, by noxious vapors, and
the various impurities Of nature, it opcr-
1ates at once az slow and subtle poison,
!. and gradually underrnines the strongest
! human constitution. Not only does it be
come poisonous by these agents, and ex-
trsu,ely pernicious to health, but it be
! comes polluted with filth, and utterly unfit
70 be taken into the lungs Of even brute.
80 Because cir Is an invisible substance,
: snd makes little impression on the organs
of sense, people seem to act as if it had
Z no existence. In the lower orders of So
.cicty It is astonishing how little attention
- shown this great question. In many in
stances the windows Of their houses are SO
fixed in the walls as to be incapable Of be
ing opened In other cases, where the
windows are movable, they are seldom
opened, except in warm weather, for weeks
and months at a time, and, were it not that
door and chimney are to be found in
every habitable apartment, the air would
be rendered absolutely unfit for respiration.
We have in our mind an instance Of n
family Of eight persons who eat, drink,
sleep, and live III a room having direct
communication with q cow-shed. The
door or window adjoining the two is sell
dom shut, except in summer, and, upon
our questioning the propriety Of this, we
! were highly edited with the information
that " for getting the heat of the cow.
doctor" was the reason and theory for so
singular procedure. This is an extreme
case, to be sure, but then there are hun
dreds of tailors, mechanics, sewing-cirls.
. and others employed in sedentery accupa
lions who, although not quite as bad, are
pent up in close and often damp apart
ments from morning till night, without ever
thinking Of opening their windows for the
admission of fresh air, and, consequently
q are continually breathing an atmosphere
highly imrrcgnatod with the noXious gases
emitted from the lungs, and the eff1uvia
?erspired from the body, which is most
sensTbly felt by its hot, suffocating smell
when person from the open air enters
the apartment.
Nor is this all. There are many fami-
lies, intelligent and wealthy, who have
every Insans at their command, whose
gilded apartments are but little better The
E sallow, deadened complexion Of those who
habitually breathe such air indicate at once
its encrsating effects, and, although its
pernicious influence may not be scnsib1y
felt, it gradually preys upon their constitu-
tion, and often produces incurablc asthmas,
fevcrs, consumptions, and other dangerous
disorders, which are frequently imputed to
other causes.
Nothing is more easy than to open the
windows aud other apertures Of an apart
ment that communicates with the external
air, and in order to expcl the contaminated
air and admit the pure vital fluid. No
medicine or restorative is cheaper or more
important to health and V igor than pure
atmospheric air, yet, because it costs moth
ing, it is little regarded. Hints and admo-
nitions in reference to this point are sell
dom attended to, and the Inconvenience
supposed in certain cases to flow from the
practice Of ventilating certain apartments
arc seldom attempted to be remedied.
Many instances are on record forcibly il
Illustrating the baneful effects of the defci-
ency Of pure air. The famous "black
hole of Calcutta where l26 human beings
lost their lives = poisoned sufbcated,
choked to death-for the want of pure air
TO breathe, is familiar to all. Another in
stance Of moro recent occurrence has como
70 Southampton, England, on which 10
men, women, and children were cmigratins
to this country. A heavy gale coming on,
the Captain ordered oil the passengers be-
low, and, for the greater safety Of his ship,
laid on the matches, and battenod them
down with tarpauhn. When the matches
were opened there was not living soul
among tho seventy.
Such cases as these, and those that
sometimes occur on board slave ships,
show how mankind is affected by foul air,
and, though death does not always result
Immediately, as in some of tho instances
noted, bad air, no matter how small the
quantity, operates injuriously upon the
system in proportion to its strength or the
length of time it is inhaled. Yet with the
many Illustrations and truths that daily
come before our eyes, we ara assaulted by,
and exposed to, the influences of this death
dealing, bad air from the very moment of
eur birth.
As babes we are swathed in blankets
like SO many mummics, and kept in close
rooms continually, lest we take cold As
school children we are crowded into I'M
ventilated rooms, where the air is brcathcd
by perhaps hundred others, where the
oxygen is exhausted by an air-tight stove,
anal where an artificial stimulus is substi-
tated for the natural stimulus Of the air.
- mechanics we arc confined often to foul
and dusty shors, where the fine PARTICLES
OF poisonous matter are continually enter
m5 the lungs. As clerks cooped up in
counting roora. where the clear winds of
heaven have never dared to come; or, as
factory operatives, inhale dust and parti-
eles of cotton, and breathe tainted air that
hrnoIc favor 1