Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1873-03-21

The chief essentials Of nursery, are light,
cheerfulness and fresh air. However plenti-
| ful and unexceptionable the food and cloth
| ing, they cannot compensate for the loss of
the vital influence derived from the sun 5
ray There is little or no advantage Of
living in the country, if we surround our
selves with all the evils which make city life
| injurious. We have only to exclude the
sun, neglect ventilation, and permit the at
moSphere of the nursery to be yitiated with
exhalations from the kitchen, the smoke
| from kerosene lamps, etc, to create the very
dangers We would avoid by removing from
the crowded city. \ nursery at the top of a
city house, where the suns rays rays and
plenty Of fresh air can enter, IS much better
than one in the country on the ground floor,
over a damp cellar, where the suns rays and
pure air are excluded. Children confined TO
such an atmosphere must necessarily suffer,
for it Is invariably a fruitful source Of
disease and fatality, exerting an injurious in
huence on every child that Is compelled to
breathe it. Rebreathed air--i is simply death
sooner or later and vet, how many nur-
series are there 50 arranged, that there Is a
constant interchange Of air, that which has
been breathed going out, and pure coming
in? But TO accomplish this, it is only
necessary to make a narrow strip Of board,
say from three to six inches in width. and
Just as long as the width of the lower sash,
50 that the ends Will fit into the grooves in
which the window slides up and down. By
raising the lower sash and placing the piece
Of board in position under it, it will leave an
open space between the,bars of the upper and
lower sash where they meet in the center.
This Is generally quite sufficient, but an adj
diti0nal means IS easily available, simply by
dropping the top sash half an inch or so,
while all danger from any possible draught
Is secured, by having the curtain fixtures
dropped about an inch, or 50 as to admit Of a
current of air passing over the top Of the cur
tain roller, and, if necessary, to draw the
curtain down below the middle ofthe window
where the first opening was made by putting
the board under the lower sash. BY these
simple and inexpensive means the atmOs-
phere Of the room can be kept in "a state of
sufficient purity without difficulty. When
the room is vacated, as it should be for
short time every day, the windows can be
thrown wide open. and thus a most thorough
or complete ventilation secured. The furni-
ture of the nursery should be plain, and
limited, or nearly 80, as in the sickrOom, TO
such articles As are indispensable; though
there can be no serious objection to the hang
inc of suitable pictures on the walls of the
room, to give it an air Of cheerfulness and re-
fnement, provided they are 50 arranged as
not to attract the attention of the little ones
from an angle of observation which would
be injurious to the eye. Nor can there be
any objection to a carpet sufficiently large
to cover tho middle Of the room, provided it
Is put down 50 that it can be lifted without
difficulty, as it shonld be taken up, shaken,
and thoroughly aired by hanging it over the
clothes line, every week or ten days. The
floor in the meantime, if painted, can be
easily washed, or if Imprinted, scrubbed
with water, to which a piece of lime, the
size of an orange, has been added. The
ceiling should be whitewashed svery spring
and fall, and the walls, ifpapered, repapered
as often As once in two years, at least, and if
not papered, whitewashed with the ceiling
1t is hardly necessary to add, that the most
neatness should be observed, both
as regard the room and its furniture
Herald Of HcGlh.