Healthy Homes.

Manawatu Herald, 5 April 1894, Page 3

Healthy Homes.

(Continued.) Let us now turn to consider for a moment the cleanliness of the habits of some of the lower animals in respect of their homes. The honey bee is very interesting in this ; connexion, This animal doeg not dig-

pose of the ash of its own body within its home, its hive ; but should the winter cold be unduly prolonged, and the animal be unable therefore for an unusually long period to leave the hive, the ash of the body is delivered in the hive, and thereupon disease breaks out, and the whole bee society may be swept out of existence by dysentry. It ia the same with ourselves. If we allow carelessness in the disposal of the ash of the body and allow it to contaminate even the soil around the home, we may be perfectly certain that ere long diarrhrea, dysentery, typhoid fever and other bowel diseases will break out and decimate the community. So too with army or other encampments,, if the "lactrines be not specially dug at a proper distance from the camps and be properly at* tended to, and always, used, it is certain the soil about the camps will become saturated with . the ash of the body, and that bowel disease and heavy, mortality will result, The need for care in tha mode of disposal of the ash of the body— the human waste — is indeed paramount, whether it be in settle^ and densely aggregated communities, or in Village settlements in process of organisation . Except in special circumstances the bird does not foul its own nest, and the ash of the young is actually removed from the nest by the ; parent. This attention to cleanliness on the part of lower animals is devoted also to other matters apt to decay. The honey bee will not allow within its home any decomposing matter likely to be injurious to it \ and, even in the case of a slug or --snail- gaining entrance into the hive, the bees will at once set to work to kill the animal and to remove it, or to cover it frith wax and seal it:, down the surface on which it may be crawling when discovered, so that injurious vapors may not escape from the 4ead animal into the hive. . Honey bees will even set to work in groups to flap their wings in such n way as' to cause ventilation of the hive whej

required. Now for a few practical points — First, moisture and other vapors of the soil on 'which the home stands must be prevented as far as practicable from entering the home. For this purpose the ground floor may be raised 2 feet or more above the gbtlf and the spaee between the floor and the soil be freely ventilated, or the \vho\e of the site oq which the ■-home <us to stand may be covered by some impervious material such as tar paving,, mineral asphalt or concrete and cement. You may think this unnecessary, and therefore I would draw your attention to '■ the fact that the soil contains a great amount of air, consisting largely of j vapors which have arisen from the decomposition of organic matter in it, and that this air is in continuous movement. If you go down certain mines in Victoria, especially when the wind is blowing from the north, you will find strong currents of air proceeding from the cut surfaces of the shafts. This current is in chief part due to pressure to the outdoor air, of the wind, on the air in the soil, the pressure of the air driving the soil-air long distances through the soil, Suppose this great air current flowing through the,., soil should meet on its way with a cemetery or with sewage or other decomposing matter, the foul vapors there formed will be driven along with it ; and all will escape at those surfaces of the earth where the pressure of the air is reduced, and among those surfaces the uncovered sites on which homes have been erected are marked instances owing to the warmth generally maintained in our homes. If you doubt the possibility of air being driven through the soil, take a long tube open at both ends and drive it some feet into the ground and blow into it; then pull it out of the ground and blow into it again in the open jir, and you willfind that lhefe is" not much more resistance; to fftej f>a Wage of the through -the tube -ia- the one than in, the ; other jcase. The moisture of the soil musff also bo prevented from rising in the walls, and this may be managed by in* troduoing into the walls a so called damp proof course, consisting of mineral asphalt or some such material, a few inches above th^e soil and a few inohes below the ground floor. The walls, top, must not allow wind driven rain to ' spaJk through them. The roof must be sound, and the spouts and drains must be so formed ' as to carry off the rain that falls on and about ttie home. All these points require, attention in order' to protect the home against wet and foul vapors arising from the soil on which it is built. (To be ooilcladed:) SIB GEORGE! GREY, K.C.B.— A magnificent portrait from the mint teden't photograph, suitable for framing, may be had from MoKbb & Gamblk JH-Z. jfress Agency, Wellington. Price 2/1 . including postage. Agents wanted.