Plenty of large windows are desirable in a sick-room. Should there unfortunately be only one window, it will be almost im- possible to air the room properly, unless there be an open transom over the door, or the door be left open most of the time. 34 When two rooms communicate, one of them may with advantage be given up to the patient, and the other to the nurse and to various appliances, wdiicli may thus be kept out of the sick one's sight. There should be little furniture in the sick-room. A few chairs and tables will sufi&ce, one being a bedside table for frequent use. A bed-chair (night-chair) or portable earth-closet wdll be very serviceable for a person who is strong enough to ^et or be helped out of bed. No carpet should be on the floor, except movable pieces or rugs, placed where they are needed for warmth to the feet and to prevent noise in moving about. No bed-curtains should be allowed ; nor heavy window-curtains. Good blinds or shades are needful to regulate the admission or exclusion of light. Warmth. A sick-room should, generally, be kept at a temperature betwen 68° and 70° Fahr. In a few exceptional cases, physicians may wish to have a room much warmer, at par- ticular times. When fuel is scarce, and the room is small, it will be best to secure good air to breathe, even at the loss of some de- grees of temperature in the room, this being made up by sufficient covering for the patient. But, in most instances, air ma}^ be, with care, kept pure and sufficiently warm at the same time. The best kind of fire for a sick-room is an open wood fire in the chimney-place. Next to that is an open coal-grate, with a good draught to secure it from escape of gas. If only a stove can be had, a wood-burning stove should be preferred. With a stove which burns coal, the greatest care will be necessary to prevent coal gas from getting out into the room, and also to keep the air moist enough by having water in a pan always upon the stove. Furnace-heated air is objectionable as a dependence in a sick-room, although very well to have within reach to supplement an open fire. The warmth of most furnaces is variable and uncertain ; some of them allow gas to get into their air-chambers, and so to pass through the house ; and, at the best, they require special pains to provide 529 66 THE FAMILY DOCTOR ventilation, which the heater itself does not furnish. For the body of a sick patient to be kept warm enough to be comfortable, is one of the quite indispensable things. It should be ascertained from time to time, especially about the feet. Blankets and quilts will not always insure warmth ; they only pro- tect it when the body has it of itself. When- ever a sick pe7'S07i' s feet are cold^ something warvi shonld be at once pnt to them. A heated fire stone, or a common brick, or a bottle, or pan of hot water, or a bag of hot salt, will do. Only never let your patient be chilled, for a single minute, when it can be helped. Light.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Plenty of large windows are desirable in a sick-room. Should there unfortunately be only one window, it will be almost impossible to air the room properly, unless there be an open transom over the door, or the door be left open most of the time. When two rooms communicate, one of them may with advantage be given up to the patient, and the other to the nurse and to various appliances, which may thus be kept out of the sick one's sight. There should be little furniture in the sick-room. A few chairs and tables will suffice, one being a bedside table for frequent use. A bed-chair (night-chair) or portable earth-closet wdll be very serviceable for a person who is strong enough to ^et or be helped out of bed. No carpet should be on the floor, except movable pieces or rugs, placed where they are needed for warmth to the feet and to prevent noise in moving about. No bed-curtains should be allowed ; nor heavy window-curtains. Good blinds or shades are needful to regulate the admission or exclusion of light. Warmth. A sick-room should, generally, be kept at a temperature betwen 68° and 70° Fahr. In a few exceptional cases, physicians may wish to have a room much warmer, at particular times. When fuel is scarce, and the room is small, it will be best to secure good air to breathe, even at the loss of some degrees of temperature in the room, this being made up by sufficient covering for the patient. But, in most instances, air may be, with care, kept pure and sufficiently warm at the same time. The best kind of fire for a sick-room is an open wood fire in the chimney-place. Next to that is an open coal-grate, with a good draught to secure it from escape of gas. If only a stove can be had, a wood-burning stove should be preferred. With a stove which burns coal, the greatest care will be necessary to prevent coal gas from getting out into the room, and also to keep the air moist enough by having water in a pan always upon the stove. Furnace-heated air is objectionable as a dependence in a sick-room, although very well to have within reach to supplement an open fire. The warmth of most furnaces is variable and uncertain ; some of them allow gas to get into their air-chambers, and so to pass through the house ; and, at the best, they require special pains to provide ventilation, which the heater itself does not furnish. For the body of a sick patient to be kept warm enough to be comfortable, is one of the quite indispensable things. It should be ascertained from time to time, especially about the feet. Blankets and quilts will not always insure warmth ; they only protect it when the body has it of itself. Whenever a sick person's feet are cold, something warm should be at once put to them. A heated fire stone, or a common brick, or a bottle, or pan of hot water, or a bag of hot salt, will do. Only never let your patient be chilled, for a single minute, when it can be helped. Light.

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