The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-11-14

homie gases of the burning material, winch
thus gill the air with additional impurities,
and, far from being an assisting agent IN tne
ventilation of building, The hot-air furnace
considerably adds to the difficulty OF proViui,,
ing the necessary ventilation. ibis Is sun
more the case when the fire is kept hlgh !; LOT
il has been fully established that air heated
hevond temperature of 212-25O degrees Is
unat for breathing. and in furnaces it is often
heated 10 temperature of 30O.4OO degrees, at
which il Is of course utterly valueless for res
niration. Indeed. it is almost an lmpossi'
blIty with furnaces to get air heated "ltn'n
the limit specified.
"But it is not merely question OF COM
fort that this matter of excluding furnaces
from our public and private buildings should
| he considered, but as most important
question of health likewise. Few persons
| tilllv realize the vast consequences which re-
| suIt from impure air, and how seriously the
duration of human life is affected by want
of proper attention to this important SUD-
ject.
CDR. James johnson says that ague and
fever, two of the most prominent features OF
the malarious influence, are as q dTop "
mater in the ocean compared with the otner
less obtrusive but more dangerous maladles
that silently disorganze the vital structure
Of the human fabric under the influence OF
this delcterious and invisible poison.
"cARBoSIc ACID INToxIcAT1oS.
"Indced, to compress the statement IN
few words, carbonic acid intoNicaton IS the
| most terrible agent Of disease, insanity, ann
immortality which we have to deal with, all
the more terrible and dangerous as 1t is IN.
dulged In by all classes, by all ranks Ine
inhabitant of the most wretched house Oh
| Baxter street clings TO the inhalatlon OF ini-
| pure air with the same iervor ana loVeas Tue
owner Of the finest dwelling on tlith avenue,
| who carefully shuts out pure air, under the
pretext Of excluding draughts,' and wraps
| himself ND in the poisonous atmosphere as II
| il were of all things his best and dearest
friend. And what / desire particularly to
insist upon, one of the most effective
elements in the spread Of this car
bonic acid intoxication, is the hot
air furnace. 1t lot only impalrs ven
tilation. but assists in the adulteration of air.
| To put hot-air furnace in your house Is
| like furnishing your milkman with chalk or
| Your wine merchant with strychnlne. As
said at the beginning, sanitary architecture
| is a matter of transcendent importance TO the
human race. Initiated atmosphere is quite
| IS INJURIOUS and supplying as the worst al
| coholic drinks. 1t spells every dinner; 1t
kills sleep; it is the greatest enemy OF the
| preacher. in that 1t makes people stupldly
| drowsy and puts them asleep; 1t dlsaran9es
tue whole natural organism. The judge ana
| iurv in courtroom filed with pestllenlal
air, as most of our court-rooms are, are us
much under the influence Of deathy mar
cotic az the inhalers of opium-smohe. The
poorer classes of our large cities suffer pro-
baby most from this dcmoralizlng breathing
of poluted atmosphere. 1t is well to preach
temperance, but is it not also well ana
Of preeminent necessity to preach ana
procure clean, pure air and healthy sum
| light? What worse than folly to refuse the
cup from which your friend has drank, anu
at the same time breathe into the Utmost re-
ce>ses of your body the dir from the lungs
of promiscuous crowd, whether in rooms,
halls, churches, or street or railroad cars, or
from a pcstilentirl neichborhood. When we
contenpllte the almost universal fear OF
| draugnt--that IS to say, fresh ar-"nlcu
pcryades almost all classes OF modern So
| cictv, and from the effects OF which our III
tie children are made to suffer even more yet
than the adult generation, it seems that no.
thin. could be more timely than crusade
against this carb0uic acid intoXicatlon, 10
which men seem so hupclcSsly given. For
! this breathing of foul air is nothing but III
toxication, accompanied by all its evil effects,
want of appetite, headache, slceplesSness,
&C.. and the cause OF most OF these
scknesscs, which are most foollshiy as
criDcd to pure air undsr the name
of draugh,s. In conclusion, allow me to
say one word in regard to drainage, whereby
| [ mem 10 include every Kind OF communl-
cation passing between the house and the
ground upon which it is built. This ground Is
also porous, the more so, likewise, IN proper
ton as it is dry, and is therefore also some
what ola yenllator. AT the same time, IN Tile
close streets of our large cities, where gus
pipes, sewers, &C., run through it 10 so vast
an extent, it is also filled with innumerable
agents of danger TO health, all OF which re-
allirc the most careful watching OH the part u
| the architect, and against many ot which SCI
ence has not as yet provided. Particularly ID
winter, when the house, il heated, draws as
| it were. the atmosphere and gases OF the
adjoining ground into lis rooms, are these ele'
ments dangerous and conspIre to spread cp-
| idcmicS.'
DR.. JAMES +. REEVES, one of the ablest
physicians in the country, also expressed III
cidentaIIy his condemnation OF hot-ar luf'
naccs, when he said:
"The question is, How do they live thus
surrounded, especially IN winter, "heA tle
windows and doors are tightly closed, anu
hot shove and dozen OF two ga5-DurnerS are
helninn TO consume The vital oxygen OF the
room, or Register is beichinS forth from
the doors below large volumes OF heated
and yitiatcd air-then, where in the name
of suffering humanity do they get the
necessary $4,000 cubic inches per hour OF
pure air to which every adult person has a
natural rignt:'
And what is the plea for using these
Notwithstanding appliances Of "modcrn
civilized life: Nothing more nor less,