The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1873-10-07

VENTILATroN--In providing ventilation
for the hospital Lariboisiere, in 1856,
700 cubic feet of fresh air per hour was
considered insufficient Tor ono person
and at considerable expense, the applr-
atus was adapted to provide 400 instead,
with entirely unsatisfactory results. 2lOO
cubic feet beiug necessary for an adult,
according 10 the investigations Of the
lecturer, and 10 hospt is much morc,eve
as high as $3.50 feet. Snch change Of
air may be effected by difference Of tenn
peraturc or mechanical currents, the ex
tent being dependent upon the size OF the
openings, crcviccs of windows, door, etc
Most exhaustive investigations made by
PetteDkoier showed that with u difference
Of 81 between the external and internal
air Of room of 1895 cubic feet capacity,
the air was entirely renewed in one hour,
aud more rapidly with increased differ
ence Of temperature but by carefully
pasting up the crev;ces it can be reduced
to onc-third the amount. 1t is especial.
ly fortunate, therefore, for the poorer
classes that rooms can not be made air.
tight, since want of warmth is less inJuri-
Gus than continued breathing of vitiated
air. A stove, under favorable circum-
stances, will introduce 1850 cubic feet of
fresh air per hour. Furnishing fuel to
the poor in winter is equivalent to furn.
ishing fresh air as well. The results OF
investigations, by Merker and Schultz, OF
the air of stables were precisely similar
to the preceding. The nature, especially
the thickness, of the wall in all cases
causes variation iu the amount OF fresh
air; and it also appears that the air OF
small rooms with few inmates is purer
than tina. of large rooms with many.
Ventilation is often neglected because Of
its inseparablc association in the minds Of
many with draught, while in reality it
need only be the proper renewal OF the
air OF closed rooms by currents OF insen-
sible velocity A draught, on the other
hand, is the cooling of a limited portion
Of the body, either by stronger currents
Of air or by radiation, as to cold wall,
for example, from which cold current of
air thnr sooms IN reach the BODY ln the
open air much stronger currents do not
suggest draught. Cooling but one side
of the body disturbs the function Of the
vaso.motor nerves, not subject to our con-
troll, and they at once begin to act as it
the whole body were cooled instead Of
but part, and the decided change in the
circulation Of the blood becomes danger
Gus by its suddenness, just as when a cold
drink is taken. While the permeability
of the earth to water is generally noticed,
the penetration Of air to a great depth is
overlooked, and also the fact that this
stratum of the aerial ocean has its slow
insensible currents, Just as that in the
walls of buildings, in clothing, etc. a
bird in a glass vessel closed with layer
of earth can live for hours Il current Of
air can easily be blown through tube
yard long filed with earth, etc. This air
in the earth can be put in motion by
differences of temperature as well as by
currents Of air Thus the odor Of gas
has been found in houses without gas
pipes, and persons have been injured by
1t, the gas bcipg drawn from very distant
defective pipes in the winter by difference
of temperature. since when the room was
not heated the odor disappeared, and was
found in an adjoining heated room. 1t
seems, therefore, that the frozen earth
was also peuetrable to the gas. This
movement Of air in the soil renders ami
nal life, though Of a low type, possible at
great depths; and to this life must be
ascribcd the excess Of carbonic acid in
the air of the soil. and, at times, its nox-
ious properties. Accurate investigations
show that the air in the soil Of Dresden
contains twice as much caIbonc acid as
that Of Munich. This is a subject that
demands more attention, on account OF its
hygienic relations, than it has received.
A careless neighbor can render the air OF
the soil impure as well as its water, and
thus contribute to disease.