New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-11-11
not IIR.

in. This substitute for tho domestic hearth B
now heating thousands OF houses that OUTSIDE
are fair to look upon. but inside are tilled Win
AN atmosphere that if it could be seen would
be recognized as abomnabe. lis yiieness IL
scarcely pcrceptible to the nostris. A ceitiin
choking sensation that one feels on entering
such house from The fresh air. a dl%%ihosS OF
faiutness that assails the visitor sitting III the
nicely furnished parl0r or reception-r0om-
these are some of tho evidences. We always
"have headaches for the first week or Wo
"after the house is warmed" is a current
family experience. The occupants soon get
used to the hot air; live through it tolerably
till Winter is over, and then wonder why they
arc sick in the Spring.
One of the falIacie5 about this business oi
furnace heat is the belief that all danger TO
health is avoided if there is pan OF water
over the fine, and the temperature OF the apart
ments is not over 700. Dryness OF the air III
the house, we are told, is especially eXas-
pcrating to people with irritable throats OF
weak lungs. Yet we send people OF just tha'
sort. when we want their health to improve
to the drie5t climates attainable. In the high
levels of Colorado, where damp air Is never
usually recover. Heat or heated air does not
necessarily hurt them, for as rule warmer
instead OF colder climate than our own
agrees best with these delicate ones. Still It
must he admitted that the pan of water on the
furnace makes the not air much more endur-
able it does not seem so utterly deyltaiized,
so incapable of supporting life, so sitting. 1t
is possible that the moisture absorbs some
thing from the air, or at all events rcfieIs
that something less palpable to our senses.
The well known smell Of coal gas-Of furnace
gas-is certainly diminished by mOistening the
air But is the product any less poisonous
II is worth while TO ask this question.
French physician OF eminence noticed that a
peculiar class OF diseases was prevalent among
The occupants of certain wa.ds in the hospital
at Savoy, but not in the other wards. His
studies led him TO the belief that the blood Of
hose patients was poisoned by the air they
hrcathcd. The symptoms were similar to those
observed where persons had attempted to XII
themselves by the favOrite method of suicide
in France-a close room and pan o! burning
charcoal. Il has been ascertained that the
poison in that form of suicide is due not to the
carhonir acid, but the carbOnic oxide inhaled.
OF the two the latter is far tho more deadly,
acting as a blood poison. Both gases Are pro-
duced when hard coal is burned in a furnace,
but the oxide il chiefly the result when the
draft rs partly turned off after hot fire has
been started 1t has smell. III is not alb
sorbcd by water; hence if ii gets into the au
outside the furnace it will not be taken up by
steam or moisture. Next came the discovery
that this carbOnic oxide passes through red
hot IRON as easily as wafer through
a sieve. The French Academy invesd-
GATED tho facts, and determined them
by abundant experiments. Meanwhile the
stoves of the Savoy hospital had been replaced
by open fire places and the whole train of pc
culiar symptoms among tho patients disap-
pcarcd. Gen. NORM aftcrward showed that
cylinders of east iron allowed the gases Of
combustion 10 pass freely through their sub
stance even at heat much below redness.
Quite recently Mr.. w. Chandler Roberts has
demonstrated similar facts as to other forms
OF iron.
In short, the furnace to heat air is very little
better than THE open pan OF burning charcoal.
IL sets free the same gases when its iron is
near a red heat. and fills the apartments above
with more or less diluted poison. II the pores
of the iron were filed with some tre-proof
glazing, perhaps the escape of gas could be
prevented; but nobody has yet we believe
come forward with such an invention. Stoves
OF tcrra-cOtia have been suggested, but GER
tainy have not made their appearance here.
steam heating apparatus is unfortunately
rather costly, though every year becoming
less so. Meanv lille those who will continue to
use furnaces may save the general health of
their households and economic in doctors
bills rs to variety of obscure diseases. by
observing two rules Don't LET the iron OF the
furnace approach red heat except while the
draft is wide open; and don't let the burning
fuel come higher than the lining. Tine fur
mace under such treatment will last longer
which, however, is a doubtful advantage.
on the moaning after the election in Ohio TIE