The daily gazette., 1877-03-20
A Plea For Pure Air.

From an exceedingly interesting ar
ticle under the above title in the Penn
syluani0 School Journal, by Prof. Geo.
| q. Gruff, A. NJ, of LewIsburg univer-
salty, We Gull the following sensible
suggestions: I.o7 ..os a
How shall we effectually ventilate
our homes, churches and schools?
Carbonic acid is heavy gas, therefore
II will sink to the floor; the effete ami
NAL matter viii sink. and it is claimed
that we must remove them by f1ues
near the door. This has been the the
ory for some time, but in practice it is
found imperfect. Others say these inn
purities being heated as they leave
the lungs will arise, and hence must be
removed near the ceiling, but this in
practice also falls of perfect ventila-
tion. The fact is portion must be re-
moved at the floor and portion near
thetop of the room. Care must be always
be taken to place the ventilating fues
near the chimneys, that they may be
warmed in winter, else no circulation
can be established in them, as exper-
ience has amply shown. A room in an
ordinary dwelling is very well VEN
tilated by occasionally opening deor
and by this means the air from both
the top and bottom of the room is
changed.
Shall we ventilate our sleeping apart
ments by lowering the windows and
letting in the cold night air? Night
air is pure, and cannot injure aperson
ON that account; but when we are in
bed and closely wrapped up. the body
is often very warm, and then the cold
external air introduced into the deli-
cate lung texture may cause serious
injury and disease; moreover, WIN
dows being lowered, drafts are liable
to ensue, and colds and catarrbs re-
suit; and during sleep tho vitality of
the body being lowered, we do not
breathe so frequently, and much car.
bonic acid is eliminated and hence we
need less amount of fresh air. A
person can sleep uninjured in any or
dinary bedroom even though there
is no provision for ventilation during
the night; but the air should be thor.
oughly changed for several hours dur
ing the daytime, and if possible plen-
tiful supply should be admitted to the
room.
School rooms can be ventilated dur
ing intermissions by raising several of
the windows and opening the door.
Teachers will find this plan to pay
most literally. The children will be
brighter, the teacher will be more
cheerful and in better mood for work
and altogether the day will pass with
fewer of the accustomed school room
jars and troubles. Not only should
the school room be furnished with
fresh and pure air, but the teacher
should earnestly Try to impress upon
the students the Importance of proper
ventilation as one OF the most vital
hygienic measures, and thus prepare
them for lives most useful and happy
than they could otherwise be.
Ard what can we say of ill.ventila- |
ted churches? They are certainly |
monuments of mems stupidity and fol- |
ly,Iand stand in direct antagonism to |
the laws of our Creator. He gave us
air, pure and wholesome,.t to breathe.
How, then, can it be possible to lift |
up the mind in worship and adora-
tion in al atmosphere foul and pollu-
ted? Moreover, in crowded assemb-
lies there may be condiderable danger
of the air becoming so poisonous as to
epgender organic disease. e.. |
The atmosphere at all times main
tains a constant composition BY what
forces is this accomplished! By the
animal and vegetable kingdoms. which
mutually counterbalance each other.
The animal basorbs oxygen from the
air, and expires carbonic acid; the
plant absorbs the carbonic acid and
sets free oxygen for the use of the
animal; and thus the process contin-
mes, in exact balance, oae of the most
wondrous provisions in the world for