Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1880-02-25
Light In the House.

III u udih uiiu glDOllN nOuSt You neFc
can see the dirt that pollutes it, Dirt &C
cumulates upon dirt, and the mind soor
learns to apologize for this condition be
cause the gloom conceals it. Accordingly
when house is dark and dingy, the air be
comes impure, not only on account of til,
absence of ligh:, but from the impuritie.
which are accumulated. We place flower,
in our windows that they may have The
light. If this be the case why should We
deprive ourselves Of the sunshine and cx.
pect to gain health and vigor? Light, and
plenty of 1t, is not only purifier Of things
inanimate, but it absolutely stimulates our
brains. Ii is in regard to sick-rooms
that this excellent authority is particularly
impressive. 1t used to be the habit of ply
sicians in old times to sedulously darker
the rooms, and this practice continues to
some extent even to-day. In certain very
acute cases of nervous diseases where light.
the very least ray of il disturbs in over-ex-
citing the visual organs, this darkening of
the room may be permitted, but ordinarily
to keep light out Of the room is to deprive
the patient of one of the vital forces.
Children or old people condemned TO live
in darkness are pale and wan, exactly like
those plants which, deprived of light, grow
white. Darkness in the daytime undOubt-
edly makes the blood flow less strongly, and
checks the beating of the heart, and these
conditions are precisely such as bring con-
stitutional suffering and disease. The sup
preston of the light of day actually in
creases those contagious maladies which
feed on uncleanliness. Dr. Richardson
states: Il once found by experiment that
certain organic poisons, analogous to the
pOisons which propagate these diseases, are
rendered innocuous by exposure to light. y
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 human health. This leading authority on
hygiene has a great deal of fault to find
with the architectural dementia of to-day
\ fashion introduced in England, and
which has some feeble limitations in this
country, is to reproduce the styles of the
Queen Anne houses. This peculiar method
indulges in small panes of glass, overhang-
ing windows, sharp. long roofs, with tiny
openings. II is relic af ancient perver-
sity, picturesque, if you please, but perfect
ly at variance with the dictates of common
sense. If 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 wis
dOws. barely admitting the invigoratIng
air and light. 30 what you please, you can
not increase either air or light. Such
cramped windows interfere with the great
work God gave the sun. Architectural ele-
gance ought always to be subsidiary to the
necessaries 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 our
houses. but still it should be admitted at
times. \ house darkened and kept dark
ened from the middle of June to the
LIST of September is an unwholesome house.
Its coolness may apparently be refreshing.
but the ar of the rooms, which stagnates,
contains undoubtedly germs of disease,
which are not the less dangerous because
they are unappreciable As 1t is, then.
only the windows of the house, with paaes
of glass which admit the light. the precau-
tons to keep them clean and bright are not
so much measures of tidiness rs absolutely
hygienIc necessities. As regards windows
and their construction, American Invention
has in this respect not advanced anything
like in proportion TO other things The
usual window with its counterpOise weight
presents unusual difficulties as to cleansing
it. You can get inside of it, but the out
side presents great difficulties. Save in the
lower stories, it may be pretty generally as
serted that of the upper windows of Il house,
the most important OF all which give light
to the Sleeping rooms, the glass is rarely
bright and clean. There seems 10 be a de-
cided reluctance ON the part of builders to
put in houses either the French window,
which simply works like a door, or those
windows 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 per-
feet ease.