Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1884-10-23

VENTILATION.-1f two persons are to oc-
cupy sleeping room together for night,
let them be weighed upon retiring, and
then again in the morning, and they will
find that the actual weight is at least one
pound less in the morning. Frequently
there will be a loss of two or more pounds,
and the average loss throughout the year
will be more than pound. That's during
the night there is loss of pound of matter
which has gone off from the body, partly
through the lungs and partly through the
pores in the skin. The escaped material is
carbonic acid gas and decayed animal mat
ter, or poisonous eXhalations. This is diff
fused through the air in part, and In part ab-
sorbed by the bed-clothes. Ifasingle ounce
of wood or cotton be burned in room, it
will so completely saturate the air with
smoke that one can hardly breathe, though
there can be but an ounce of foreign matter
in the air. If an ounce of cotton be burned
every half hour during the night, the air
will be continuously saturated with smoke
unless there is an outlet for it. Now the
sixteen ounces of smoke thus formed are
far less dangerous or poisonous than the six
teen ounces of eXhalations from the lungs
and bodies of two persons who have lost a
pound in weight during the eight hours of
sleeping, for while the dry smoke is mainly
taken into the lungs, the damp odors from
the body are absorbed both into the lungs
and into the pores of the entire body.
Nothing stronger can be said to prove the
necessity for ventilation in bedrooms, and
of thoroughly airing the sheets, coverlets
and mattresses in the morning before put
ting them into the form of neatly made
bed. Children more than any others suffer
from bad air. The restless tossing and NUT
tering, the disturbed sleep, all give strong
est evidences of the effect Of bad air. ms
is further confirmed by the dull eye, stupid
expression, languid movements, and unre-
freshed feeling which are visible in the
morning. Every house should be well VEN
tiated, the body sufficiently covered with
warm, loose, suitable clothing, and be sure
the sleep will be sound and refreshing
and will be manifested in the bright eye
and vigorous growth and action.
BIRDS NEsTs.-There are few things as
wonderful as birds nests. These little Great
ures, which one would suppose good for moth
really capable of building "hOuses without
hands," These are built for the purpose of
rearing and protecting their young. The
materials used for the nest are different
with different birds, but they are generally
straw, twigs, wool, thread or moss. l once
saw a nest made of some very fine lace. tax
en- from the clothes line Of our neighbors.
The styles of building their nests are near
ly, if not quite as numerous as those en-
ployed by man in building houses. Some
English author has classified them into
twelve distinct groups: Miners, ground
builders, masons, carpenters, platform build
ers, basket makers, weavers, tailors, felt
makers, cementers, dome builders and para
sites. These names indicate the methods
used in building.
Under the head Of miners come the COM
mon bank-swalows The hawk is both
ground and platform builder. The robin
is a mason, and the woodpecker a carpen-
ter. The martial eagle of South Africa,
builds platform said to be strong enough
to hold the largest man. The magpie and
crow are basket makers and hang their nest
from some twig or branch where the leaves
entirely conceal them. Of the weavers, the
Baltimore oriole is perhaps the most famil-
lar example. There are many other exam
pies of the wonderful ways in which birds
construct their nests. Who teaches them
how to do all these things is question
which we cannot answer. We know, how
ever, that they must have natural impulse
which leads them to do, without reasoning,
what is best for their own safety.