Now, as to find the Reason Why of all statements and
operations is our first consideration, the familiar ground
must be traversed again, and the properties and constitu-
ents of air find place here. It is an old story, and, like
other old stories accepted by the multitude, has become
almost of no efl'ect ; passive acceptance mentally, absolute
rejection physically, seeming to be the portion of much of
the gospel of health. " Cleanliness is next to godliness,"
is almost an axiom. I am disposed to amend it, and
assert that cleanliness is godhness, or a form of godliness.
20 THE HOUSE: VENTILATION.
At any rate, the man or woman who demands cleanli-
ness without and within, this cleanliness meaning pure
air, pure water, pure food, must of necessity have a
stronger body and therefore a clearer mind (both being
nearer what God meant for bod}^ and mind) than the one
who has cared little for law, and so lived oblivious to the
consequences of breaking it.
Ventilation, seemingly the simplest and easiest of
things to be accomplished, has thus far apparently defied
architects and engineers. Congress has spent a million
in trying to give fresh air to the Senate and Representa-
tive Chambers, and will probably spend another before
that is accomplished. In capitols, churches, and public
halls of every sort, the same stor}^ holds. Women faint,
men in courts of justice fall in apoplectic fits, or become
victims of new and mysterious diseases, simply from the
want of pure air. A constant slow murder goes on in
nurseries and schoolrooms ; and white-faced, nerveless
children grow into white-faced and nerveless men and
women, as the price of this violated law.
What is this air, seemingly so hard to secure, so hard
to hold as part of our daily life, without which we can not
live, and which we yet contentedly poison nine times out
of ten?
Ox3^gen, nitrogen, carbonic acid, and water}^ vapor ; th»i
last two being a small portion of the bulk, oxygen and
nitrogen making up four-fifths. Small as the proportion
of oxj^gen seems, an increase of but one-fifth more would
be destruction. It is the life-giver, but undiluted would be
the life-destroyer ; and the three-fifths of nitrogen act as
its diluent. No other element possesses the same power.
Fires and light-giving combustion could not exist an
THE HOUSE: VENTILATION. 21
instant without ox_ygen. Its office seems that of universal
destruction. B}^ its action deca^^ begins in meat or vege-
tables and fruits ; and it is for this reason, tliat, to preserve
them, all ox3'gen must be driven out hj bringing them to
the boiling point, and sealing them up in jars to which no
air can find entrance. With only undiluted oxj'gen to
breathe, the tissues would dr}^ and shrivel, fuel burn with
a fwYj none could withstand, and every operation of nature
be conducted with such energy as soon to exhaust and
destroy all power. But " a mixture of the tier}" oxj'gen
and inert nitrogen gives us the golden mean. The
oxj^gen now quietly burns the fuel in our stoves, and keeps
us warm ; combines with the oil in our lamps, and gives us
light ; corrodes our bodies, and gives us strength ; cleanses
the air, and keeps it fresh and invigorating ; sweetens foul
water, and makes it wholesome ; works all around us and
within us a constant miracle, yet with such delicacy and
quietness, we never perceive or think of it, until we see it
with the Q
Page 8
Presented as published in 1881. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
A modernized reading is not available for this page yet. You are seeing the original text.
Now, as to find the Reason Why of all statements and
operations is our first consideration, the familiar ground
must be traversed again, and the properties and constitu-
ents of air find place here. It is an old story, and, like
other old stories accepted by the multitude, has become
almost of no efl'ect ; passive acceptance mentally, absolute
rejection physically, seeming to be the portion of much of
the gospel of health. " Cleanliness is next to godliness,"
is almost an axiom. I am disposed to amend it, and
assert that cleanliness is godhness, or a form of godliness.
20 THE HOUSE: VENTILATION.
At any rate, the man or woman who demands cleanli-
ness without and within, this cleanliness meaning pure
air, pure water, pure food, must of necessity have a
stronger body and therefore a clearer mind (both being
nearer what God meant for bod}^ and mind) than the one
who has cared little for law, and so lived oblivious to the
consequences of breaking it.
Ventilation, seemingly the simplest and easiest of
things to be accomplished, has thus far apparently defied
architects and engineers. Congress has spent a million
in trying to give fresh air to the Senate and Representa-
tive Chambers, and will probably spend another before
that is accomplished. In capitols, churches, and public
halls of every sort, the same stor}^ holds. Women faint,
men in courts of justice fall in apoplectic fits, or become
victims of new and mysterious diseases, simply from the
want of pure air. A constant slow murder goes on in
nurseries and schoolrooms ; and white-faced, nerveless
children grow into white-faced and nerveless men and
women, as the price of this violated law.
What is this air, seemingly so hard to secure, so hard
to hold as part of our daily life, without which we can not
live, and which we yet contentedly poison nine times out
of ten?
Ox3^gen, nitrogen, carbonic acid, and water}^ vapor ; th»i
last two being a small portion of the bulk, oxygen and
nitrogen making up four-fifths. Small as the proportion
of oxj^gen seems, an increase of but one-fifth more would
be destruction. It is the life-giver, but undiluted would be
the life-destroyer ; and the three-fifths of nitrogen act as
its diluent. No other element possesses the same power.
Fires and light-giving combustion could not exist an
THE HOUSE: VENTILATION. 21
instant without ox_ygen. Its office seems that of universal
destruction. B}^ its action deca^^ begins in meat or vege-
tables and fruits ; and it is for this reason, tliat, to preserve
them, all ox3'gen must be driven out hj bringing them to
the boiling point, and sealing them up in jars to which no
air can find entrance. With only undiluted oxj'gen to
breathe, the tissues would dr}^ and shrivel, fuel burn with
a fwYj none could withstand, and every operation of nature
be conducted with such energy as soon to exhaust and
destroy all power. But " a mixture of the tier}" oxj'gen
and inert nitrogen gives us the golden mean. The
oxj^gen now quietly burns the fuel in our stoves, and keeps
us warm ; combines with the oil in our lamps, and gives us
light ; corrodes our bodies, and gives us strength ; cleanses
the air, and keeps it fresh and invigorating ; sweetens foul
water, and makes it wholesome ; works all around us and
within us a constant miracle, yet with such delicacy and
quietness, we never perceive or think of it, until we see it
with the Q