Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1880-01-31
LIGHT IN TIE HOUSE.
what DR.. Richardson, the Author Of
ssthe Hygienic City,'' Says About

~
ssthe Hygfenic City, Says About
1t.
DR.. Richardson, whose articles on health
have been cited so much, In recent English
at Home" which is replete with wisdom. A
most important point, and one on which he
dwells is the fact that SO many people are
Of the light dark and gloomy
1t. Dirt accumulates on dirt, and the mind
soon learns to apologize for this condition be-
cause the gloom conceals it" Accordingly,
when house is dark and dingy, the air be-
Genes impure, not only on account of the alb
sence OF light, but from the impurities which
are accumulated. Now, as DR.. Richardson
cleverly puts 1t, we place flowers in our win
dows that they may have the light. II this be
the case, why should we deprive ourselves of
the sunshine and expect to gain health and
Tg9ra Light and plenty Of t is not only a
stimulates our brains. 1t is in regard to sick
rooms that this excellent authority is particu-
lally impressive. 1t used to be the habit Of
physicians in old times to sedulously darken
the rooms, and this practice continues to some
extent even to-day. In certain very acute
cases OF nervous diseases where light, the least
gans, this darkening of the room may be per-
United, but ordinarily to keep light out of the
room Is to deprive the patient of one of the
vital forces. Children or old people con-
exactly like those plants which, deprived Of
light. grow white. Darkness in the daytime
Undoubtedly makes the blood flow less strongly,
and checks the beating of the heart, and these
conditions are precisely such as bring constitu-
tional suffering and disease. The suppression
OF the light of day actually increases those con-
tagious malades which feed on uncleanliness.
DR.. Richardson states: 81 once found by eX-
pertinent that certain organic poisons, ana
Joyous to the pOlsonS which propagate these
diseases, are rendered innOcuOus by exposure
to light" Once in England there was tax
placed on windows, but this was driven out of
English legislation after while, never to be
brought up again. because it was a tax on hu-
man health. This leading authority on n.y.
gtene has great deal Of fault to find with some
OF the architectural dementia of to-day. A
fashion introduced in England, and which has
sore feeble limitations in this country, is to re-
n Oduce the styles OF the Queen Anne houses.
OF glass, overhanging windows, sharp, long
roofs, with tiny openings 1t is relic of an
Gent perverstty, picturesque, If you please, but
perfectly at variance with the dictates of COM
mon sense. Ii you have big windows. which
say admit too much light, the glare of which
is uncomfortable, shade or curtain will keep
out the sun; but have small windows. barely
admitting the fnvigorattng air and light, do
what you please, you cannot increase either air
or light. Such cramped windows interfere
with the great work God gave to the sun.
Architectural elegance ought always to be sub
sidiary to the necessities Of health. In the
United States, though with climate differing
materially from that of England, the laws OF
health are the same. Our August glare heats
times. A house darkened and kept darkened
from the middle OF June to the 1st OF September
Is an unwholesome house. Its GOODNESS may
apparently be refreshing, but the air of the
rooms. which stagnateS contains undoubtedly
germs OF disease, which are not the less dan
gerous because they are unappreciable. AS it
is. then, only the windows. Of the house, with
panes OF glass which admit the light, the pre-
cautions to keep them clean and bright are not
so much measures OF tidineSS as absolutely n.y.
gtenic necessities. AS regards windows and
their construction, American invention has in
this respect not advanced anything like in pro-
portion to other things. The usual window
with its counterpoise weight presents unusual
difficulties as to cleansing it. You can get in
side of it, but the outside presents great diff
cult1eS. Save in the lower stories, it may be
pretty generally asserted that the upper win
doWs OF house, the most important of all,
which give light to the sleeping rooms, the
glass is rarely bright and clean. There seems
to be decided reluctance on the part OF build
ers to put In houses either The French window,
which simply works like door, or those win
dows which, hung in the middle, revolve on the
centre. For ventilation alone, such windows
have great advantages over the old styles, and
they can be cleaned with perfect ease.-N. T.
Times.