1 10ME 
Sanitation 
A Manual 
FOR 
House-keepers HOME SANITATION 
A 
MANUAL FOR HOUSEKEEPERS 
BY THE 
SANITARY SCIENCE CLUB OF THE ASSOCIATION 
mirnrn 
OF COLLEGIATE ALUMNA. 
BOSTON 
TICKNOR AND COMPANY 
1887 Copyright, 1887 
By T1CKNOR AND COMPANY 
All rights reserved 
PRESS OF 
ROCKWELL AND CHURCHILL 
BOSTON PREFACE. 
r I "'HE Sanitary Science Club of the Association of Col- 
legiate Alumnae was organized in November, 1883, 
for the study of home sanitation. Two years were de- 
voted to general study and research before any attempt was 
made to extend the work beyond the limits of the club. 
Since that time the material now presented has gradually 
taken form. The questions have been practically tested 
by the members of the club in their own homes and by 
other housekeepers. The questions have also been adopted 
as the basis of a course in sanitary science offered by the 
Society to Encourage Studies at Home. The practical 
sanitary work accomplished by the club, both for them- 
selves and for others, cannot be mentioned in detail. 
But as an encouragement to the formation of similar 
clubs, and to the study of the subject, it may be said that 
the expenditure of time and effort has been amply repaid 
by positive and satisfactory results. 
Since its organization the membership of the club has 4 
PREFACE. 
undergone several changes. The present active members 
desire to express their indebtedness to their former associates 
for much of the preliminary work, without which this little 
book could not have been made. 
Annie E. Allen, 
Alice Stone Blackwell, 
Sarah Louise Day, 
Alla W. Foster, 
Edith Talbot Jackson, 
Alice Peloubet Norton, 
Ellen H. Richards, 
Marion Talbot. 
Editors, 
Boston, June i, 1887. CONTENTS. 
CHAPTER I. 
PAGE 
Introductory .......... 7 
CHAPTER II. 
Situation of the House and Care of the Cellar ... 10 
Questions 12 
CHAPTER III. 
Drainage and Plumbing ........ 15 
Questions ........... 19 
CHAPTER IV. 
Ventilation .......... 31 
Questions . • 33 
CHAPTER V. 
Heating 37 
Questions ........... 42 
CHAPTER VI. 
Lighting 46 
Questions 50 6 
CONTENTS. 
CHAPTER VII. 
PAGE 
Furnishing 52 
Questions 54 
CHAPTER VIII. 
Clothing 58 
CHAPTER IX. 
Food and Drink ......... 63 
Questions . 65 
CHAPTER X. 
Sanitary Work for Women ....... 68 
List of Books of Reference ...... 73 
Index 77 HOME SANITATION. 
CHAPTER I. 
INTRODUCTORY. 
THE hygiene of the home is a subject of growing im- 
portance and interest. As one of the problems of 
social and economic science it is beginning to receive the 
attention it mav rightly claim. The women of our country 
should not only follow the discussions which are carried 
on by sanitary congresses, boards of health, and other 
authorities, but, by combining theory with practice, as few 
others can, aid in solving the great questions which seriously 
affect the interests of the home and the family. 
The object of this manual is to arouse the interest of 
housekeepers in the sanitary conditions of their homes. 
The questions are so framed that an affirmative answer 
implies a satisfactory arrangement, and also suggest a 
remedy if the answer is negative. 
In thus pointing out the sources of danger, and the ideal 
standards of sanitation in the perfectly healthful house, the 
compilers do not intend unnecessarily to alarm or discourage 
the householder. It is their aim to urge the intelligent over- 
sight of these matters, and to indicate the points requiring 
investigation, the methods of examination, and the practical 
remedies. 8 
HOME SANITATION. 
The conditions required under the two topics (Situation 
and Drainage) which open the subject may seem as difficult 
of realization, especially to those already settled in their 
homes, as they are important. But while the suggestions 
would be of greater value to those considering the choice of 
a residence, yet it is believed that they will show those who 
assume that the conditions of their houses are beyond their 
control, that the remedy frequently lies within their reach. 
The second topic (Drainage) is necessarily somewhat 
technical; but it is hoped that the explanations in the 
notes will prove that the difficulties are more apparent 
than real, and that the principles can be easily under- 
stood. 
It is unavoidable that some of the points, in a subject 
so full of detail, should appear in themselves trivial, and 
the risk to health, incurred in ignoring them, very slight; 
but the sum of such trifles often makes the difference be- 
tween physical vigor and weakness, and the risk, small as it 
is, is greater and more serious than that from fire, against 
which the householder always insures himself. 
One of the most dangerous qualities of the unsanitary 
house is that it does not always and at once pi'oduce a definite 
and virulent disease, such as typhoid fever or diphtheria, 
though such is often its result; but, without doubt, it slowly 
and insidiously causes ill-health and general languor, which 
incapacitate for sustained effort, and to which women are 
especially subject from their greater confinement to the 
house. 
In conclusion, the householder must be i*eminded that it 
is not enough to secure right sanitary conditions ; they must 
be maintained. This can best be done through the eternal 
vigilance of the housekeeper, who can thus, in large measure. INTRODUCTION. 
9 
secure the two essentials of a happy home, — good health, 
and its attendant, good-nature. 
The following motto should be the basis of her efforts : — 
“ Any invention intended to be a substitute for watchful- 
ness will prove a delusion and a snare.” 10 
HOME SANITATION. 
CHAPTER II. 
SITUATION OF THE HOUSE AND CARE OF THE CELLAR. 
THE location and surroundings of the house are of the 
first importance from a sanitary stand-point. Folding- 
doors and carved mantel-pieces are attractive to the house- 
hunter ; but the satisfaction they give may be more than 
offset by the bad effects of a neighboring marsh, a wet 
cellar, or a lack of sunshine. As W. P. Gerhard well says: 
“It must be constantly borne in mind that, while defective 
construction may generally be remedied, unhealthy sur- 
roundings, an undesirable aspect, or insalubrious building 
site cannot be changed.” 
The chief essentials to be secured are pure air, sunlight, 
and dryness. These are conditions upon which physical 
and mental vigor largely depend. Without them the 
human system loses its power of resistance to disease. 
Rheumatism and consumption are diseases which are 
peculiarly pi'evalent under such conditions. Moreover, 
many forms of organic life, which are particularly injuri- 
ous to human beings, and are known familiarly to us in 
the form of decay and mold, thrive only in dampness and 
darkness. 
It is fortunate that some, at least, of the many sources 
of contamination are offensive to the sight and smell, and 
we instinctively keep as far from them as possible. But 
there are other unsanitary agents of a more insidious char- 
acter, whose importance is often overlooked or ignored. SITUATION OF HOUSE — CARE OF CELLAR. 
11 
Among these is the air which circulates in the ground. We 
usually think of the air as above the ground, not as moving 
about in it, and seldom realize how great this amount is, 
until we try the simple experiment of pouring water into 
a potful of dry earth and notice how much the earth will 
absorb in the space which was before occupied by air. 
The ground-air is more dangerous than the free atmos- 
phere because it is more apt to be tbe carrier of foul gases 
and an undue amount of moisture. It will, therefore, be 
observed that a large number of the following questions are 
planned with a view to keeping dampness and ground-air 
out of the cellar. 
The reader may exclaim, “Why, you would be more par- 
ticular about the cellar than the parlor; ” and she would not 
be far from right. The day has not passed when a contem- 
plated visit to a cellar is, in many cases, a cause of some trepi- 
dation and alarm. There are the breakneck stairs to grope 
down, and some calculation is needed to land in safety 
on the board floating about at the bottom. A few steps 
farther and the intruder may knock her head against a 
hanging shelf, covered with an accumulation of fragments 
of foods. She decides that a little fresh air would be de- 
sirable. She makes her way towai*d one of the narrow 
windows through whose covering of cobwebs and dust a 
few rays of light straggle. But the first attempt to open a 
window is a failure, for the coal-bin forms an impassable 
barrier ; and the second is no less futile, because of the row 
of old barrels, filled with decaying vegetables and house- 
hold rubbish, which are posted against the cellar-wall. 
The only other inlet for fresh air is the cellar-door, which 
is too heavy to lift, and the visitor is forced to retreat without 
fulfilling her good resolve. 12 
HOME SANITATION. 
As the reverse of this picture, we may refer to the cellar 
which is not only sanitarily ideal but practically possible. 
It is as light and dry and clean as any room in the house. 
The windows are large, are on different sides, and can be 
opened easily. The walls are free from dust and cobwebs, 
and look quite attractive in their coat of whitewash. The 
sweetness and purity of the air are not only a satisfaction to 
the good housekeeper when she inspects her cellar, but they 
have much to do with the well-being of the family. 
Much of the air which enters the different rooms of the 
house comes from the cellar. A heated house acts like a 
chimney. Not only does it draw air from the ground about 
it, unless the cellar walls and floor are impervious, but the 
movement of air is from the bottom upwards, and the air of 
the cellar makes its way into every part of the house. A 
German experimenter proved that one half of the cellar-air 
made its way into the first story, one third into the second, 
and one fifth into the third. The upward movement of air is 
shown frequently by ceilings. The dark streaks are formed 
by the deposit of dust from the air which passes through the 
plastering between the laths. 
These facts prove the necessity of especially considering 
the cellar in its function of a reservoir of air for the whole 
house ; and it will be readily agreed that there is little use 
in adopting special methods of ventilation for the living- 
rooms and sleeping-rooms if foul air is allowed constantly 
to rise from the cellar. 
QUESTIONS. 
I. When you selected your house did you make sure 
that it was in a healthful locality as well as in a convenient 
and fashionable one? SITUATION OF HOUSE — CARE OF CELLAR. 
13 
2. If the house is situated on rising ground, is the surface- 
water (from rains) carried away on all sides by either 
natural or artificial drains? 
3. If the ground is level are there under-drains carrying 
away the rain-water? 
4. Is the soil sandy and porous? 
5. If the soil is clayey and compact is there special pro- 
vision for drainage? 
6. Is there a distance of at least 200 feet between the 
house and any low marshy spot, any opening of a sink- 
drain, or other drain, or any deposit of decaying material? 
7. Is there at least a quarter of a mile between the house 
and any source of contamination of the air the occupants 
must breathe such as marsh at low-tide, boggy pond or 
lake, low river-bank, pools of standing water? 
8. Are the first-floor-beams of the house laid upon stone 
or brick foundations, three to six feet above the ground ? 
Note. — Only about half the height of the cellar is then 
below the surface of the ground. 
9. Is there a cellar or ventilated air-space under the 
whole house ? 
10. Is there a separate cellar (either under a carriage- 
house or other building, or walled oft' from the main cellar 
and with a separate entrance), in which all vegetables and 
other perishable articles are stored ? 
11. Is the cellar perfectly dry at all seasons of the year ? 
12. If not, are special drains laid under the cellar-floor? 
13. Is the floor cemented ? 
14. Are the sides cemented? 
15. Is the cellar thoroughly cleaned and whitewashed 
with lime every spring? 
16. Has the cellar several windows so that it is light and 
well aired ? 14 
HOME SANITATION. 
17- Are these windows accessible? 
18. Is it lathed and plastered overhead? 
19. Is the coal-cellar a light and dry place? 
Note. — The decomposition of the sulphides in the coal 
goes on much more rapidly in a damp atmosphere. Sul- 
phides cause silver to tarnish. 
20. Do the living-rooms and sleeping-rooms have the 
sunshine a good part of the day ? 
21. Are shade-trees removed which would surround the 
house too closely and prevent the entrance of sunlight and 
the circulation of fresh air? 
22. Are all the sleeping-rooms above the first floor? 
23. Are there windows on two sides of every room, or 
suite of rooms, or some other efficient means of producing 
a strong current of air when needed ? 
Chiefly applicable to a city house : — 
24. Is the street pavement usually clean and dry? 
25. Are the gutters clean, and does the water run freely 
from them to the drain ? 
26. If the lot is on made land — 
(a) Have you consulted old topographical maps, in 
order to learn the original character of the soil, and direc- 
tion of the water-courses? 
(b) Does the soil consist of gravel, sand, or loam, not a 
mixture of ashes, street-sweepings, and house-refuse? 
(c) Was the site well drained before the process of 
filling-in was begun? 
(d) Have some years passed since the lot was filled 
in ? 
27. Is the back-yard provided with a drain for rain 
water ? DRAINAGE AND PLUMBING. 
15 
CHAPTER III. 
IT may be confessed, frankly, at the outset, that drainage 
and plumbing present some of the most intricate prob- 
lems with which the housekeeper has to deal; but, for the 
encouragement of the reader, it may be said that they are 
like most tangled skeins, — after the first few knots are care- 
fully disentangled the rest of the difficulties vanish almost 
of themselves. Moreover, there is a special inducement to 
make a little extra effort; for from defects in this department 
by far the greater part of the most serious and immediate 
dangers to life and health in the household arise. In many 
instances these can be averted, without expense or even tech- 
nical skill, by intelligent oversight and a knowledge of what 
defects to look for, how’ to find them, and how to remedy 
them. 
When an expert is really needed a little knowledge en- 
ables one to recognize the fact in season to save the heavy 
penalty of illness or expensive repairs which delay often 
involves. In no department of household economy are the 
old adages about the ounce of prevention and the stitch in 
time more valuable. These questions aim to save the 
pound of cure, and avert the nine stitches. They do not aim 
to supplant the mechanic or engineer, or to supply the place 
of a scientific treatise. 
They are based upon the principles stated by Rogers 
Field as the three canons of house-drainage : — 
DRAINAGE AND PLUMBING. 16 
HOME SANITATION. 
1. All refuse matters must be completely and rapidly re- 
moved. 
2. No passage of air can be allowed to take place from 
drain or waste-pipes into houses. 
3. No communication can be permitted to occur between 
the drains and the water-supply. 
In two ways these questions are designed to be especially 
helpful. 
First. To enable those selecting a house to judge of its 
sanitary condition. It cannot be too strongly urged in this 
connection that every inch of pipe, every cesspool, every 
drain and joint and trap, must be seen and tested. If they 
are so imbedded in wood-work, walls, floors, or ground, as 
to make this impossible, that fact is, in itself, condemnation 
enough. Such concealment makes two evils certain, even 
if everything else is all right at the time. (1.) Because of the 
trouble or even practical impossibility attending inspection, 
there will not be the thorough and periodical examina- 
tion of the whole drainage system which safety requires 
just as much as in the case of the steam-boiler. (2.) A 
leakage or break is liable not to be discovered until it has 
produced seriqus or possibly fatal disease ; and then there 
is often delay, and, eventually, the partial demolition of 
floors and walls in order to get at the root of the trouble. 
Second. To aid those in charge of a household to main- 
tain healthful conditions. The larger the staff of servants, 
and the more complicated the drainage system, the more 
necessary is intelligent supervision. When the mistress has 
little realization of the importance of sanitary precautions 
it is scarcely to be expected that even the most trusty ser- 
vants will display greater interest, foresight, and intelligence 
in the daily care of the house. It is difficult to say whether DRAINAGE AND PLUMBING. 
it is more necessary to start right in the beginning with 
simple and efficient drainage, or to keep it in good condition 
by watchful, constant attention. The importance of apparent 
trifles must be felt, and careful regard paid to them. The 
single match or banana-peel in the closet, the lock of hair 
in the washbowl, maybe the soui'ce of serious and expensive 
trouble. 
It will aid in the most intelligent use of the questions if 
some simple descriptive manual be read in connection with 
them to serve for further explanation and illustration. 
The question of the disposal of sewage outside the imme- 
diate premises is beyond the control of the individual, and, 
therefore, not within the scope of this book. The disposal 
of sewage where there is no water-carriage system has been 
touched upon by a few leading questions ; but any elabora- 
tion of the practical application of the methods suggested 
should be sought in some treatise devoted to the subject. 
In conclusion, we may quote from Mr. J. Pickering Put- 
nam a few general principles of universal application which 
might be called The Ten Rules of Sanitary Drainage : — 
1. Simplicity. 
2. Accessibility. 
3. Thorough flushing. 
4. Ventilation. 
5. Noiselessness. 
6. Soundness of material. 
7- Tightness of joints. 
8. Avoidance of mechani- 
cal contrivances. 
9. Economy of water. 
10. Automatic ooeration. DRAINAGE AND PLUMBING. 
19 
QUESTIONS. 
1. Have you a plan of the system of pipes in your 
house ? (See W. P. Gerhard’s diagram on preceding page.) 
2. Is all the plumbing-work exposed to view, or easily 
accessible ? 
3. Are the fixtures on the different floors placed over 
each other so as to avoid horizontal soil and waste pipes? 
Note I. Fixtures include water-closets, washbowls, tubs, 
sinks, etc. 
Note II. — The soil-pipe conveys the contents of water- 
closets and urinals to the house-drain. It may also receive 
the contents of waste-pipes. The waste-pipes carry other 
refuse fluids, as of tubs, sinks, washbowls, etc., only. 
These pipes may discharge either directly into the house- 
drain, or into the soil-pipe. The house-drain is the pipe 
which receives the contents of the soil and waste pipes, and 
conveys them outside the house. It is nearly horizontal, 
with an inclination of at least one in fifty, while the soil and 
waste pipes should be vertical. 
4. Are all the pipes air-tight as shown by the peppermint 
test ? 
Note. — Pour two ounces of oil of peppermint into the 
soil-pipe at its mouth above the roof, if it is accessible, or 
into the basin or water-closet nearest the roof, first closing 
the vent-pipes which appear above the roof. Pour in, 
immediately after, a pailful of hot water ; if the odor of pep- 
permint is perceived, at any lower fixture, it is an indication 
that there is an opening in some pipe through which foul 
air may escape. The peppermint should be kept outside 
the house until needed, and the person who pours it in 
should remain on the roof, or in the room with closed 20 
HOME SANITATION. 
doors, until the examination of the fixtures below has been 
made by an assistant; otherwise, the odor will come from 
the bottle, or the clothing of the person, and spoil the 
test. 
Oil of peppermint is sold for the purpose in 2-ounce 
vials, hermetically sealed. 
5. Is the continuation of the house-drain outside the 
house to the sewer or cesspool properly laid, i.e. — 
(#) Are the pipes of small size, not more than five 
inches in diameter, in order that they may be thoroughly 
scoured by the rush of water? 
(b) Are they laid with a continuous grade of at least one 
in fifty ? 
(c) Have they tight joints ? 
6. If this outside di*ain is in made ground, or quicksand, 
or near trees, or a well used for drinking, is it made of iron? 
If otherwise, if not of iron, is it of earthenware, with 
cemented joints? 
7. Is there a trap on the house-drain, near the cellar wall, 
to prevent the entrance of foul air from the sewer? 
(a) Has this trap a cleaning-hole so that it can be 
reached and cleaned? 
(£) Is care taken to close the cover of this cleaning-hole 
pei'fectly air-tight after each examination? 
Note. —A trap is a bend in a pipe, with or without an 
enlargement, which retains a sufficient quantity of the water 
that passes through it, to prevent the passage of foul air 
hack through the pipe, and into the room. There are 
many kinds of traps. The S trap, Fig. 136, and the bottle- 
trap, Fig. 139, are in common use. 
The water standing in the trap is called the seal. It is 
effective when it stands at least one inch above the bend in DRAINAGE AND PLUMBING. 
21 
the pipe. If it stands lower space is left above the water 
for the passage of foul air back through the pipe, and the 
seal is “broken,” as in Fig. 137* 
Fig. 136. 
A trap, to be effective, must be of such a size and shape 
that it will be self-cleansing. If the 
water-seal is too deep, solid matter will 
not all be carried out of the trap. 
8. Is there a pipe for the admission 
of out-door air on the house side of this 
trap? (Question 7.) 
Note. — Air admitted here will pass 
up through the house-drain and main 
soil-pipe, diluting and carrying off at the roof the foul air 
in these pipes. 
(a) Is the opening of this pipe at least ten feet from a 
window, door, or the cold-air supply of any heating appa- 
ratus, lest a counter-current should carry the foul air back 
through the fresh-air pipe? 
(<5) Is the fresh-air inlet at least as large as the drain, 
four inches in diameter? 
(c) Is its opening protected from obstructions? 
9. Is the house-drain carried in full sight along the face 
of the cellar-wall, or suspended from the cellar-ceiling? 
Fig. 139. 
Fig. i37o 22 
HOME SANITATION. 
Note. — If there are fixtures necessitating the laying of 
the pipe at a lower level than the cellar, the drain should 
be laid in a mason-work trench (or on special foundations, 
in filled-in land), under the cellar-floor, with movable 
covers, that leakage in the joints of this important pipe 
may be surely and quickly detected. 
10. Is the drain protected from the settling of the cellar- 
valls by an opening, arched or crossed with a long stone, 
vhere it passes through them? 
11. Is the soil-pipe — 
(a) As small as four inches in diameter? 
(<5) Carried in a straight line at least two feet above the 
roof for ventilation, with its opening away from windows, 
chimney-flues, and fresh-air ventilators? 
(c) Protected at its opening by a wire-screen from the 
entrance of leaves and other obstructions ? 
(«T) Made of cast-iron with calked lead joints, and coated 
inside and outside with asphalt or some equivalent sub- 
stance ? 
12. Do the branch waste-pipes connect by a Y branch 
and bend with the soil-pipe? 
Note. —AY branch is so named from its shape. 
13. Has each water-closet, washbowl, bath-tub, sink, set 
of laundry tubs, etc., a separate trap, and one only? 
Note. — If a fixture has two traps, or if there are two 
traps on the same length of pipe, the air between them may 
be so compressed that it will force its way through the trap 
having the shallower water-seal. This is the cause of the 
irregular gurgling sound sometimes heard. It may be 
remedied by removing one trap, or by connecting the crown 
of one of the traps with a ventilating-pipe, as is now usually 
done with all traps. DRAINAGE AND PLUMBING. 
23 
14- Are the fixtures as free from wood-work in the form 
of casings, etc., as possible? 
(a) If not, can the wood-work concealing them be easily 
removed, and is it frequently removed for the examination 
and cleaning of the fixtures? 
15. Does each water-closet have a sufficient supply of 
water, discharged with enough force wffien emptied, com- 
pletely to scour the traps and branch waste-pipes, i.e., two 
or three gallons to each closet at each flushing ? 
16. Ai'e all objects excluded from the 
water-closet which are likely to obstruct 
the pipes, such as hair, strings, rags, 
china, glass, or anything not quickly 
and easily dissolved? 
17. Are the water-closets flushed with 
water from a special cistern used for that 
purpose alone, and never as a supply 
for drinking or cooking, or for the hot- 
water system ? 
18. When a fixture is not to be used for some time is the 
evaporation of water in its trap, which would destroy the 
seal and admit foul air to the house, prevented by pouring 
down oil or glycerine, so as to cover the water in the trap? 
19. Are all stationary lavatories excluded from sleeping 
apartments, unless special precautions are taken? 
20. Are concealed overflow-pipes avoid- 
ed, and standing overflow-pipes or some 
substitute used ? 
(a) If the overflow-pipes are concealed, 
are they frequently flushed with clean water ? 
(<3) Do they connect with the waste- 
pipe between the bowl and its trap? 24 
HOME SANITATION. 
21. Is siphonage of traps guarded against by venti- 
lating-pipes, pot-traps, or mechanical traps? 
Note. — When a body of water with considerable mo- 
mentum is discharged into a pipe (as in emptying a pail of 
slops or flushing a water-closet) it drags air along with it, 
and partially exhausts the air in all the branch pipes. The 
pressure of the atmosphere outside the pipe, upon the water 
in the trap, will then be greater than that from inside the 
pipe, and the water in the trap will be forced down into 
the pipe, until the water-seal is broken, and space left for 
the passage of foul air up into the room. 
The vent-pipe is an air-pipe attached to 
the highest part of the bend in the trap, on 
the sewer side of the water-seal, thus 
affording free admission of air to the inside 
of the pipe, to balance the pressure of the 
atmosphere outside and preserve the water- 
seal, when the air in the branch waste- 
pipes has been swept away by a dis- 
charge of water. The opening sometimes 
becomes clogged, as in the cut. 
Vent-pipes are usually required by 
plumbing laws. 
A pot-trap is one like Fig. 139 (Question 
7, note), with a chamber large enough 
to hold a deep water-seal which can- 
not be easily broken. A small pot- 
trap will not resist siphonage, but a 
large one will. These traps, how 
ever, retain filth, and are liable to clog. 
Mechanical traps ai*e those hav- 
ing, in addition to the water-seal, DRAINAGE AND PLUMBING. 
25 
some mechanical contrivance, as valve, ball, flap, etc. They 
are liable, from their complicated construction, to get out of 
order; they are not self-cleansing, and accumulate deposits. 
In view of these objections it is generally considered 
best to use vent-pipes with water-closet traps ; and bottle- 
traps, frequently cleaned out, under sinks, basins, and tubs. 
22. If the vent-pipe is used, is it (a) either extended 
through to the roof and two feet above it, entirely separate 
from any chimney-flue, or branched into a soil-pipe above 
the inlet from the highest fixture ? 
(<5) Is it either vertical or continuously sloping, to avoid 
collection of water by condensation ? 
(c) Is the main vent-pipe at least three inches, and the 
branch vent-pipe two inches, in diameter? 
23. Are slop-hoppers thoroughly flushed after each use? 
24. Is their outlet provided with a strainer? 
25. If a water-closet is used as a slop-hopper, is it in- 
variably a hopper or wash-out closet, without wood-work 
except the seat on the top? 
Note . — Pan, 
valve, and plunger 
closets should never 
be used for slops. 
26. Is the o 1 d- 
fashioned pan-clos- 
et, which is con- 
demned as clumsy 
and unsafe by all 
sanitarians, replaced 
by some one of the 
numerous simpler 
and more effective 
modern closets? 
Fig. 145. 2 6 
HOME SANITATION. 
Pan Closet. 
The upper bowl is set into a large container; a copper 
pan closes the bowl at the bottom. The dotted lines show 
the position of the pan when open. The contents of the 
bowl are discharged by tilting the pan by the lever. It 
is a complicated apparatus, and likely to get out of order. 
Its container is inaccessible. This container becomes foul, 
and the flush of water cleanses it very imperfectly. The flush 
is usually not strong enough to drive the solid matter over 
the bend of the S trap in the pipe. The foul air from the 
decomposition of this filth escapes into the room every 
time the closet is used and the water-seal in the pan is 
broken ; it also escapes through the lever-hole when not in 
use. Even if these objections are obviated by a special 
flushing apparatus for both bowl and container, by fresh- 
air pipe and vent-pipe, and by enamelling the container, 
the only merit which can be claimed for it is that of cheap- 
ness. 
The essentials of a sanitary closet are rapid and free 
flushing; a deep water-seal; avoidance of siphonage; 
simplicity of construction ; accessibility for cleansing and 
inspection. There are many modern fixtures which fill 
these conditions. 
27. If a grease-trap is provided for the kitchen sink, is 
it frequently cleaned and inspected ? 
Note. — Grease carried from the kitchen sink by hot water 
soon becomes cold, and adheres to the sides of the pipe and 
trap, unless the drain has a very good pitch. A special trap 
Objections. DRAINAGE AND PLUMBING. 
27 
placed near the sink to intercept the grease before it con- 
geals is called a grease-trap. 
If there is no grease-trap the sink should be frequently 
washed out with a hot solution of washing-soda, potash, or 
copperas. 
28. Is the space under the kitchen sink free to light and 
ventilation, and accessible for frequent cleansing? 
29. Are all articles excluded from the sink-pipe which are 
likely.to obstruct it ? (Question 16.) 
30. Is the refrigerator waste-pipe free from direct con- 
nection with the soil-pipe or drain ? 
31. Is it discharged into an open sink in the basement, 
over a blind well out-doors, or is it carried by a special 
pipe to the street gutter. 
32. If the open sink is used, is the waste-pipe from this 
sink effectively trapped before entering the drain? 
33. Are the waste-pipes which lead from the sheet-lead 
safes provided under basins, tubs, water-closets, etc., to 
prevent flooding of floors and ceilings, not directly con- 
nected with the soil-pipe or drain, but discharged into an 
open sink in the cellar, or over water-closet cisterns? 
34. Are the overflow-pipes of all cisterns used for 
drinking, cooking, or washing, free from direct connection 
with the soil-pipes? 
35. Are they either discharged on the roof, or over an 
open sink, etc., as above? 
36. Are rain-water leaders used for that purpose only, 
and never as soil, waste, or ventilating pipes? 
37. If the leader discharges '..ito the drain is it trapped 
at the bottom, before entering the drain, if its top opens 
within ten feet of a window? 
Note. — When the contents of these waste-pipes (in 28 
HOME SANITATION. 
Questions 30-37) are eventually discharged into the drain 
they are of great assistance in flushing the pipe. The dis- 
connection by trap and at the open sink reduces to a 
minimum the danger of back passage of foul air. 
When these wastes are discharged directly into the soil, 
they are liable to cause standing puddles, gut lawns, and 
increase the dampness about the house and the possibility 
of dampness in the cellar. 
38. After sinks and bowls have been used is fresh water 
turned on to fill the traps and displace the dirty water 
which would otherwise stand in them? 
If the house has not the water-carriage system : — 
1. Are earth-closets, ash-closets, the pail system, or some 
method of frequent removal and disinfection adopted? 
2. If not, is the receptacle of the privy cemented to 
prevent leakage and soakage, and to permit the complete 
removal of its contents ? 
3. Is the receptacle accessible from outside the house? 
4. Is the closet separated from living-rooms and sleeping- 
rooms by a ventilated passage-way protected from storm 
and cold ? 
5. Is a box of dried and sifted loam placed near, and 
enough thrown in after each use to keep the contents dry? 
Note. — Gravel and sand are useless for disinfection. 
6. Is a separate receptacle and drain provided for slops 
and other fluid wastes? 
Note. — The efficacy of earth depends on its deodorizing 
and absorbing properties, which exist only when it is dry; 
hence, if slop-water is poured into the receptacle, a larger 
amount of earth is needed to absorb it, and prevent decom- 
position, than can be conveniently used. DRAINAGE AND PLUMBING. 
29 
7- Are you careful never to throw slop-water of any 
kind on the ground near the house? 
8. Is an absolutely tight receptacle substituted for the 
common cesspool? 
Note. — The common cesspool is lined with bricks or 
stones so loosely laid that the noxious gases which are 
generated, and the liquid contents, escape into the soil. 
The gases are liable to make their way back into the 
drainage system of the house. They permeate the ground, 
and, if the cesspool is near the house, pollute the cellar air. 
The liquid contents spread through the soil, and con- 
taminate the water of wells and springs, even at great 
distances. In these different ways the cesspool may be the 
means of breeding and spreading disease. It is, therefore, 
not only a constant source of danger to the immediate 
household, but is always objectionable in the interest of 
public health. Its use is entirely prohibited by sanitarians. 
9. Is this receptacle emptied (a) by a flush-tank through an 
impervious pipe, into a series of earthen or tile drains with 
open joints, and its contents discharged into the ground a 
short distance below the surface? Or, (b) are its contents 
carried through an impervious pipe, and emptied on the 
surface of the ground at a distance from the house or a 
source of water-supply ? and is the position of the outlet of 
the pipe occasionally changed? 
Note. —(Vide a.) Flush-tanks are self-emptying, tight 
cesspools, small in size, and made automatic in various 
ways. They are thus emptied intermittingly. By this 
action the liquid is forced more rapidly through the pipes 
and they are prevented from being choked. The sewage 
is also more widely distributed and has time to subside, 
instead of keeping the ground a little wet all the time ; the 30 
HOME SANITATION. 
air can then enter, and the aerated soil can do its work as 
a purifying and disinfecting agent. 
io. If a self-emptying cesspool cannot be used, is the 
receptacle water-tight, suitably ventilated, and emptied at 
regular intervals? 
n. Are its contents placed on the soil in the morning 
of a dry clear day, and in places where they may be 
readily absorbed by the earth, so that the odors may be as 
inoffensive as possible, and is copperas solution occasionally 
sprinkled over them ? 
12. If the house is in a village lot, which is too small to 
permit of any of the preceding arrangements, is a small 
water-tight receptacle provided and its contents regularly 
removed to a farm or the open country away from houses? 
13. Is the kitchen sink furnished with a tight drain which 
will carry the drainage away from the house, instead of 
depositing it under the windows to decompose and act as an 
important factor in the production of disease? 
14. Is the end of the drain next the house connected 
with the kitchen sink by a lead pipe with a trap? 
15. Is the kitchen fire often made use of and considered 
an effective and economical way of disposing of articles 
which might otherwise be offensive? VENTILATION. 
31 
CHAPTER IV. 
VENTILATION. 
THE necessity of pure air in our homes cannot be too 
strongly urged ; and its importance should secure for 
it the careful daily attention of every housekeeper. She will 
find it difficult, at best, to keep off illness from her family ; 
but much may be done by a wholesome atmosphere toward 
keeping each member of the household strong, active, and 
happy. Sanitarians agree that pure air is the first essential 
for a healthful home. 
The maintenance of pure air in our climate undoubtedly 
entails expense, for a great deal of fuel is needed to prepare 
outside air for our use; but, in estimating the actual cost, 
several points should be considered. Not only must the 
bills for coal and wood be compared with the bills for doc- 
tors and nurses, but account must be taken of the increase 
in headache, listlessness, laziness, irritability, and nervous- 
ness, which follow as a consequence of breathing impure 
air. These results, which incapacitate for the duties as well 
as the pleasures of life, are a less striking accompaniment of 
impure air than are diphtheria or typhoid fever, and their 
cause is, therefore, too frequently overlooked. 
The housekeeper should personally attend to the daily 
airing of every part of the house, and to the warming of all 
living-rooms as quickly as possible afterwards. But she 
should remember that, if the outside air chance to be very 
damp or foul, no good end will be served by opening doors 32 
HOME SANITATION. 
and windows. She should make it her duty to guard against 
all draughts, and should look upon them as an indication of 
imperfect ventilation. She should remember that windows 
are made for the admission of light and for an occasional 
thorough change of air, but are not ventilators, and that all 
window-ventilators, and they are numberless, are make- 
shifts. 
The ideal house is provided with an abundance of air by 
means of flues, without using the windows ; but, in the ordi- 
nary house of the present time, the use of the windows has 
to be depended upon more or less for a quick change of air. 
More air than would seem possible is admitted through 
the walls of the house and around the windows and doors. 
This amount is increased by the presence of an open fire, 
which draws the air toward it. A constant circulation is 
thus kept up, and the escape of air by the chimney keeps the 
atmosphere in a purer and more wholesome state than is 
possible with any other arrangement. An open chimney, 
even without a fire, carries off quite an amount of impure 
air. This may be greatly increased, when a fire is not 
needed, by placing a lighted lamp or candle in the fireplace 
to make a draught upwards. 
It must be remembered that the cardinal principle of ven- 
tilation is circulation. It is even more important to provide 
a chance for foul air to escape than to furnish a special inlet 
for fresh air. Under the conditions of ordinary living, air 
which is made impure by breathing and the burning of lamps 
is generally warmer than outside air and has, therefore, a 
tendency to rise. If it can escape, its place will be filled by 
air drawn in from the cracks about windows and doors. 
The general outlet of air for the house should be in the top 
story, but sometimes the open window or skylight is im- VENTILATION. 
33 
practicable on account of the down draugnt caused by the 
prevailing winds. Unless the position of the opening can 
be altered the plan has to be abandoned in windy weather. 
The height of rooms should not be over ten or at most 
twelve feet, unless unusual means are provided for the 
escape of the vitiated air, wdiich accumulates like an in- 
verted lake, near the ceiling. 
Special attention should be given to ventilating, as well 
as frequently airing, the kitchen and the bath-room. The 
odors of cooking are often so perceptible as to be a serious 
annoyance to the family, while they should be rarely noticed 
through the house and should never be troublesome. In 
the bath-room bad air is as dangerous as any other poison, 
and should be guarded against with equal vigilance. 
To sum up, the important objects of ventilation are : — 
I. To provide an abundance of pure air in every part of 
the house. 
II. To avoid draughts, either warm or cold. 
III. To provide means of escape for foul air and odors. 
Time and money spent in attaining these ends will be well 
invested, and the householder will be richly repaid by the 
increase in vigor, comfort, and happiness of every member 
of his family. 
QUESTIONS. 
1. Are all living-rooms and sleeping-rooms thoroughly 
aired at least once a day? 
2. Are the windows so placed as to make a draught pos- 
sible when needed to effect a quick change of air? 
3. After the rooms are aired early in the morning, are 
they, in cold weather, at once warmed again enough for HOME SANITATION. 
34 
comfort and safety and to prevent remonstrances from the 
family against the daily airing? 
4. Is there a constant supply of fresh air in every part of 
the house? 
5. Is an outlet for foul air, as well as an inlet for fresh 
air, provided in the different rooms? 
6. Are the inlets and outlets arranged to prevent constant 
draughts ? 
7. Is there a skylight at the top of the house, so placed 
with regard to the prevailing winds that it maybe kept open 
a few inches most of the time as an outlet for impure air 
without causing a downward draught through the house? 
8. If such a skylight is impracticable, can a window in 
the top story be kept open a little most of the time? 
9. Are the outside or double windows made with two 
sashes, or with movable panes, so as to admit a current of air 
when desired? 
10. Are all windows arranged so that they can be lowered 
easily from the top ? 
11. If there is a water-tank, is the air of the room in 
which it is placed kept fresh and pure ? 
12. Are the halls supplied with plenty of pure, warm 
air? 
13. Are sleeping-rooms kept cooler than living-rooms? 
14. When a sleeping-room is used as a sewing-room or 
sitting-room, during the day, is it thoroughly aired before 
bed-time? 
15. Do you open your chamber-windows as soon as you 
are dressed? 
16. Do you at the same time always open the closet 
door ? 
17. At night is a piece of cotton cloth hung over the VENTILATION. 
35 
opening of the window, a board inserted, or a screen placed 
before the bed to break the force of the current of air? 
18. When there is a great difference between the tempera- 
ture in-doors and out do you remember that a great deal of 
air finds its way in through the walls and around the win- 
dows, and the window should not be open as far as at other 
times ? 
19. In warm weather do you keep the bath-room window 
open as much as possible, both top and bottom, to allow the 
air to escape out of doors instead of into other parts of the 
house ? 
20. In cold weather is the bathroom window opened 
frequently, top and bottom, for a few minutes at a time? 
21. Is there a thermometer in every room ? 
22. Are the living-rooms kept at a temperature not ex- 
ceeding 70° F. ? 
23. Have you an efficient method for ventilating the top 
of the rooms, where foul air is apt to collect? 
24. If not, can you put in a foul-air outlet, in the shape of 
a box, between the ceiling and the floor above, extending 
from the chimney to the chandelier, with apertures over the 
latter ? 
25. If a nursery, school-room, or sitting-room is occupied 
a large part of the day, or by many people at one time, are 
the windows occasionally opened for a few minutes, to 
change the air, at a time when the family are at their meals 
or occupied elsewhere ? 
26. Does the member of the family who is the last to re- 
tire thoroughly air the room where the family have been 
sitting through the evening, in order that the foul air may 
not have a chance to make its way through the house dur- 
ing the night? 36 
HOME SANITATION. 
Ventilation of the kitchen : — 
27. Has the kitchen adequate arrangements for constant 
ventilation and occasional airing? 
28. Is there a ventilating-flue in the kitchen-chimney? 
29. If odors from cooking are especially troublesome, 
can a hood over the range or stove be connected with the 
flue, or are kettles used which have special provision for 
carrying away the odors ? 
30. Are there windows on opposite sides of the kitchen 
for quickly changing the air? 
31. Are there openings on different outside walls with 
register-ventilators which may be closed in very cold 
weather ? 
Note. — These should be so placed that no draught will 
be felt in the part of the kitchen most in use and should be 
as near the ceiling as possible, in order to move the upper 
strata of hot air, which usually carry odors over the whole 
house. HEATING. 
37 
CHAPTER V. 
IT must be the aim of the housekeeper to provide all 
parts of the house with air that is not only fresh and 
pure, but sufficiently warm for health and comfort. In this 
climate the question of heating the air is an important 
one during the greater part of the year. 
The different parts of the house should be of so nearly 
the same temperature that a chill is not felt on passing from 
one room to another. If the halls are kept moderately 
warm there will rarely be any trouble of the kind. This 
end is best gained when the heating apparatus is placed in 
the central part of the cellar and the heat is distributed to 
the different rooms of the house by pipes. 
When the house is heated by a furnace, or by steam or 
hot-water pipes passing through an air-chamber in the cel- 
lar, the hot-air conductors serve also as ventilating flues. 
If the rooms are heated by stoves, or by radiators, some 
other means must be devised to bring in fresh air. It is 
sometimes introduced in the floor around the stove so that 
it is warmed before passing into the room. 
The furnace is best adapted for houses of moderate size, 
and, if open fires are used in connection with it, there is also 
the best possible provision for the removal of impure air. 
The old-fashioned fireplaces, which our grandfathers used, 
were very large, and required an immense amount of fuel. 
When the fire was lighted it caused a tremendous draught, 
HEATING. 33 
HOME SANITATION. 
and air was drawn in through the cracks around the loose 
windows and from the cold halls. As a result the only 
warm place in the room was close to the fireplace, and this 
was often too hot for comfort. The modern fireplace and 
chimney are much smaller, and serve to remove the impure 
air without causing sensible draughts. 
No part of the household machinery requires more intel- 
ligent or judicious management than the furnace, and it 
should never be left wholly to the care of servants. As its 
essential parts are usually completely hidden from view, the 
accompanying cuts are given to aid the housekeeper in 
understanding its construction. 
A furnace is practically a large stove standing in an en- 
closed air-chamber. The enclosing surface may be galvan- 
ized iron, as in a poi'table furnace, or brick. The cold-air 
box is the passage which connects this chamber with the 
out-of-door air, and the hot-air pipes distribute the air after 
it has been heated. These should be so planned in refer- 
ence to each other that the air from the cold-air box has to 
pass at least once around the furnace, before entering the 
hot-air pipes. 
In order to meet the too-prevalent demand for compact- 
ness and cheapness, many furnaces are made on the princi- 
ple of furnishing a small volume of air highly heated. The 
air as it enters the room is then in a state which is called 
“ burnt.” Sanitary requirements strictly forbid this. The 
cold-air box, the fire-pot, the hot-air chamber, the pipes and 
the registers should all be large enough to supply the rooms 
with a large volume of air moderately warmed, not over 
120° F. Only then does the furnace meet the demands of 
both sanitary heating and ventilation. 
The material of which the furnace is made is of less im- HEATING. 
39 40 
HOME SANITATION. 
portance than the thoroughness of its construction. In cast- 
iron furnaces the few joints necessary should be horizontal.! 
The old notion that cast-iron allowed carbonic oxide to pass 
through probably arose from the fact that cast-iron furnaces 
and stoves have many joints which it is difficult to keep 
tight; but stoves with loose covers and cracks have been 
used in kitchens for years with apparent safety. A moment’s 
consideration of the conditions will show that there is little 
danger from this cause if the draughts of the furnace are 
properly arranged. If all the dampers of the kitchen stove 
are suddenly shut the gas comes into the room, but not 
otherwise. So, in a furnace, if the draught is up chimney, 
as it should be, there is little danger of contaminating the 
air. 
As the tendency of warm air is always to rise, it will be 
found difficult to heat rooms on the first floor, if the pipes 
leading to them, which are necessarily nearly horizontal, 
are more than fifteen feet long. 
Air at 70° is capable of containing much more moisture 
than it can at a lower temperature. A dish of water 
placed where it will slowly evaporate supplies this need, 
and prevents the air from seeming parched and dry. 
Unless the amount of fire in the furnace can be regulated 
easily the family are apt to suffer when warm spring days 
come, and the fire is allowed to go out. There should be 
provision for open fires, or a low fire should be kept con- 
stantly in the furnace, until settled warm weather. The 
amount of heat can be most easily regulated when the house 
is heated by hot water, and, with this method, there is no 
danger of over-heating or burning the air. HEATING. 
41 42 
HOME SANITATION. 
QUESTIONS. 
I. — If furnace heat is used, — 
1. Is the furnace large enough to heat the house thor- 
oughly and at the same time furnish air for ventilation ? 
2. Are all the joints tight and the castings smooth and 
sound ? 
3. Are the furnace and pipes periodically examined and 
cleaned ? 
4. Is the smoke-pipe at least 16 inches from the ceiling? 
5. Is the smoke-pipe so arranged that there is a good 
draught? Has it a damper? 
6. Is there provision for the evaporation of water? 
7. Are the hot-air pipes so arranged that they do not come 
within two inches of any wood-work ? 
8. Is each horizontal pipe less than fifteen feet in length? 
9. Have the hot-air pipes dampers in the cellar, by which 
the heat may be cut off from any part of the house when 
desired ? 
10. Is the cold-air box short and direct? 
II. If necessarily long, is it easily cleaned, and so ar- 
ranged that it cannot become a receptacle for rubbish ? 
12. Is it kept perfectly clean and dry? 
13. Is its area equal at least to the area of all the registers 
less one sixth ? 
14. Is it so tight that the furnace cannot draw any air 
from the cellar? 
Note.—Wooden air-boxes are not to be recommended, 
because they are liable to have cracks and imperfect joints. 
If such exist, some of the injurious effects may be removed 
by filling the cracks with cotton-wool. If an opening or 
door, such as is shown in the cut, is provided to be used in HEATING. 
43 
cleaning out the air-box, it should be made to close tightly, 
so that air may never be drawn from the cellar into the 
furnace. 
15. Has it a movable slide by which the amount of air 
admitted may be regulated? 
16. Are there two cold-air boxes, on different sides of the 
house, to avoid the annoyance of too great wind-pressure ? 
Note. — This is especially desirable for a country house 
in an exposed situation. 
17. Has the outside opening of the cold-air box a wire 
netting to keep out falling leaves, or cats, rats, etc. ? 
iS. Is this opening away from every drain-ventilator, 
cesspool, yard-gully, ash-barrel, swill-tub, privy, or other 
source of contamination ? 
19. In a city house, is it on the side of the house farthest 
from the street, to avoid the entrance of dust, etc. ? 
20. If not, is cheese-cloth or bunting stretched over it to 
sift out the dust? 
21. Is it at least two feet above the ground? 
22. Does the surface around it slope away sufficiently to 
carry off moisture rapidly ? 
23. Are the registers so placed as to collect as little dust 
as possible, i.e., in the wall, when practicable? 
24. Are they large enough for the room they try to heat? 
25. If they are in the floor, are they taken out at least 
once a month, and thoroughly cleaned and the pipe wiped 
out with a damp cloth as far down as possible ? 
26. When the room is being swept, or the furnace shaken 
down, do you place a damp cloth over the registers? 
27. Are the registers so placed with regard to the fire- 
place, ventilator, or window, that the pure, warmed air, on 
entering the room, does not at once pass out by the outlet 44 
HOME SANITATION. 
for foul air, and thus cause a draught, and lessen the benefit 
from the furnace? 
II. —If the house is heated either wholly or in part by 
open fires, — 
1. Do you see that an abundant supply of fresh air is fur- 
nished to the fuel to avoid the formation of carbonic oxide 
by imperfect combustion, and also to prevent the air used 
to replace that which passes up chimney from being drawn 
from other parts of the house? 
Note. — With coal, a blue Jlame indicates the presence of 
carbonic oxide, a most poisonous gas. 
2. Are the draughts of the chimney strong enough to 
carry away all the products of combustion ? 
3. Is the hearth laid on a brick arch to prevent danger 
from fire? 
III. — If stoves are used, — 
1. Is there a provision for the introduction of fresh air 
to take the place of that drawn from the room by the stove? 
2. When the fire is kindling, after putting on fresh fuel, 
are the draughts arranged so that no carbonic oxide or coal- 
gas passes into the room ? 
Note. — Neglect of this precaution often leads to serious 
or fatal consequences. 
3. Do you keep an open dish of water on the stove to 
give the requisite moisture to the air ? 
IV. — If the house is heated either by steam or hot- 
water, — 
1. Are the boilers inspected once every year, to see if 
they are in good condition ? 
2. Are the pipes tight so that they do not leak? 
3. Are the pipes in the cellar covered with asbestos or 
some other non-conducting material? HEATING. 
45 
4- If the rooms are heated by direct radiation, i.e., if 
radiators are placed in the rooms, are means provided for 
introducing plenty of fresh air, and supplying needed moist- 
ure to the air? 46 
HOME SANITATION. 
CHAPTER VI. 
LIGHTING. 
UNDER the conditions of modem civilization much 
reading, writing, and sewing is necessarily done in 
the evening, and by artificial light. During the hours spent 
under artificial light we are in abnormal conditions,— con- 
ditions which at best are unsanitary and unnatural, — and 
all possible precautions should be taken to render them as 
harmless as possible. It is believed that much headache, 
often attributed to other causes, is in reality due to unsuit- 
able lighting. Although the electric light and candles of 
tallow, wax, or paraffine are in use, yet the choice of illu- 
minant is practically limited to gas and kerosene. 
The two chief points to be observed in connection with 
the artificial light are : First, To avoid undue vitiation of 
air of the room ; Second, To secure a strong and steady light. 
All combustion uses up oxygen, and produces carbonic- 
acid gas ; hence, with the exception of the electric light, all 
artificial illumination of a room is a great tax upon the air- 
supply and upon the means of ventilation. 
It has been estimated that one ordinary gas-jet will con- 
sume as much air as two people, and a kerosene lamp 
will use as much as four people. 
Unless the burner is of a good pattern, there may be an 
escape of unconsumed gas, which still further vitiates the 
air. All so-called whistling of the gas means an escape of 
unconsumed gas, and should not be allowed. LIGHTING. 
47 
Combustion not only furnishes the desired light, but it 
also yields undesired heat, and this heat is the cause of 
much of the headache in the evening, as well as of much 
injury to the eyes. If it is necessary to hold the head near 
the light, it is best to have some kind of shade which is not 
a good conductor of heat. 
The amount of vitiation of the air, and the amount of 
heat given off, are seen by the following table. The light 
given by each substance was equal to that given by twelve 
standard sperm candles, each burning at the rate of 120 
grains per hour. (“ Nature,” Vol. XXX., p. 282.) 
Per hour. 
Cu. ft. of 
oxygen 
consumed. 
Cu. ft. of 
air 
consumed. 
Cu. ft. of 
Carbonic- 
acid gas 
produced. 
Cu. ft. of 
air 
vitiated. 
Heat pro 
duced, reck 
oned in lbs. 
of water 
raised io° F. 
Gas 
3-3° 
16.50 
2.01 
217.50 
I95.O 
Sperm oil 
4-75 
23-75 
3-33 
356-75 
233-5 
Paraffine1 
6.8i 
34-05 
4-50 
484.05 
361.9 
Sperm candles.. 
7-57 
37-85 
5-77 
614.85 
35i-7 
Wax candles ... 
8.41 
42.05 
5-9° 
632.25 
383-1 
Tallow candles. 
12.00 
60.00 
8-73 
933.OO 
5°5-4 
Electric light... 
13.8 
1 From other tables kerosene is seen to be nearly the same as paraffine. 
Since natural illumination is nearly equal in every part of 
the room, it seems desirable that artificial illumination shall 
also extend to every part of the room, to avoid an undue 
strain upon the eyes, when looking up from book or work. 48 
HOME SANITATION. 
In the use of the kerosene lamp several points ought to 
be noted : — 
1. The lamp should be filled daily, for two reasons: 
(<z) The higher the flame is from the reservoir of oil, the 
less light is given for equal volumes of oil burned. (<5) The 
gi'eater is the air-space over the oil in the reservoir, the 
greater is the danger of an explosion. 
2. Combustion is the more perfect, the nearer the max- 
imum light is approached ; hence the burner should not be 
turned low, since the only saving effected is in the amount of 
heat given off. Just as much oil is used ; but part of it 
escapes without being completely burned, and vitiates the 
air. 
3. Perfection of combustion also depends upon sufficient 
access of air to the wick where the burning occurs. This 
is attained in two ways : (a) By round wicks with air- 
space inside as well as outside — (the argand and- student 
lamps are of this type). (b) By the access of air to both 
sides of the flat wick — (the duplex burner, with double flat 
wick and extinguisher, is the type most used). A good 
burner allows the air to enter freely at the base, and hence 
the small apertures must not become clogged. 
Since it is estimated that one third of the fires which 
occur are caused by kerosene lamps, it may not be out of 
place to mention some pi'ecautions as to their use. 
Kerosene is obtained by distilling crude petroleum, which 
consists of a variety of inflammable and more or less vola- 
tile liquids. The more volatile give the most brilliant light 
(such as gasoline for the gas-machines in use in country 
houses), and are of less commercial value, so that it is for the 
interest of the refiner to allow as much as possible of these 
more volatile products to remain with the kerosene. LIGHTING. 
49 
The vapor of these volatile portions mixes readily with air, 
and mixtures thus formed explode violently when ignited. 
Some of the cheaper kerosenes on the market will 
give off inflammable vapors when the oil is heated to 90° or 
ioo° F. That is, if the reservoir of the lamp, with the 
burner and wick removed, were half filled with kerosene 
and placed in a dish of warm water, when the oil was warmed 
to 90° or ioo° F. the space above the reservoir would be 
filled with a vapor which would explode if a lighted match 
were brought in contact with it, and if the lamp were 
broken and the oil spilled, it would burn freely, setting fire 
to whatever it reached. 
Since it is not uncommon to have lamps near the stove, 
and since, especially with a lamp-shade, much heat is 
reflected downwards, it will be seen that a temperature of 
90° to ioo° F. is not unfrequently attained. 
The only real safety is to use an oil which will not give 
off inflammable vapor at any temperature which will prob- 
ably be reached. Oil which can be heated to 140° F. without 
yielding this vapor will not take fire even if the lamp is 
broken and the oil spilled ; it will only burn at the wick, 
where it is heated much more. 
The different state laws fix the temperature (called the 
“flashing point”), below which the oil must not give off 
these inflammable vapors, at different degrees from ioo° to 
130°. 1200 would seem to be a good mean. 
To blow the flame strongly is to run the risk of driving 
it down into the reservoir. A second opening in the lamp 
for filling is rarely tight, and vapors are apt to escape; the 
oil also “ creeps ’’ over the lamp, and thus vapors may be 
given off which vitiate the air, even if no explosion occurs. 
There is also a temptation to fill the lamp while lighted. 50 
HOME SANITATION. 
QUESTIONS. 
1. Is an abundance of pure air introduced into every 
room in which a lamp or a gas-jet is burning, to make up 
for the oxygen consumed by the flame ? 
2. Is sufficient precaution taken to provide means for 
the quick removal of the gases generated by the flame? 
Note. — In case stationary gas-jets are used it is prac- 
ticable to have the products of combustion carried off out 
of the room by means of flues. 
3. If kerosene is used,— 
(a) Do you use oil of I20°F. flash test, as shown by the 
open tester? 
(3) Do you take care to select the best burner possible ? 
(c) Does the burner have some mechanical means of 
putting out the flame? 
(d) If not, is care taken to turn the flame down and 
blow across the top of the chimney and never directly down 
into it? 
(e) Are the burners boiled occasionally in water con- 
taining a little washing soda, to prevent creeping of the oil, 
as well as to clean them ? 
(f) Are you careful not to leave the lamps with the 
flame turned down? 
{g) Do you banish such lamps as have a separate open- 
ing for filling? 
(3) Are “ packed lamps,” which have wicking saturated 
with oil and no liquid, provided for carrying about the 
house ? 
(Y) Are the servants cautioned never to fill a kerosene- 
lamp near a fire or burning lamp ? 
4. If gas is used,— LIGHTING. 
51 
(a) Are the gas-pipes and fixtures tight, so that no gas 
can escape into the room and vitiate the air? 
(b) Are the modern gas globes used, with large open- 
ings at the bottom, in order to secure a steady flame? 
(c) If metal tips are used are they frequently renewed? 
Note. — Lava tips last longer, but are liable to crack and 
clog. 
(d) Is the gas-cock so arranged that it will turn no 
farther when the stream of gas is shut off'? 
Note. — Gas-cocks without a stop turn all the way 
round, and it is difficult to know when the gas is shut off. 
Probably more fatal accidents arise from this cause than 
from blowing out the gas. 
(e) If a drop-light is used, with a rubber tube, are you 
careful to detach and air the tube frequently? 
(f) Is especial care taken that a match is lighted and 
ready to apply before the gas is turned on, in order that 
none may escape to vitiate the air unnecessarily ? 52 
HOME SANITATION. 
CHAPTER VII. 
FURNISHING. 
IT may be assuming too much to claim that the true 
standard of beauty in house-furnishings conforms 
strictly to that required for the best sanitary condition of the 
inmates of our houses ; but it surely is not extreme to de- 
clare emphatically that the conventional standard is far 
from being one of either beauty or health. 
The canons of good taste everywhere demand simplicity 
and adaptability as their true basis. Furnishings which 
destroy comfort and injure health cannot, when judged by 
this rule, be recognized as truly beautiful. 
Pure air and sunshine, two essentials of healthful living, 
cannot be obtained in full measure in the modern, elaborately 
furnished houses, which too often remind one rather of a bric- 
a-brac shop, or an upholsterer’s establishment than of a 
home where health and cheerfulness abound. 
A common and growing mistake is this of using our 
houses chiefly as a means of displaying the objects which our 
tastes and our wealth permit us to procure, while we dis- 
regard the far more important claims of good health. “ The 
first wealth is health,” says Emerson. 
Houses should be so finished and furnished as to be easily 
kept free from dust and impurities of all kinds. Not only 
should the inside wood-work and walls of the house be 
smooth and of a nature to permit thorough cleaning, but 
even the concealed portions of furniture should be made FURNISHING. 
53 
with smooth surfaces, and either varnished or oiled, so that 
the lodging of dust and the absorption of poisonous gases 
may be prevented. 
The general acceptance of the germ theory of disease 
makes it imperative for every housekeeper to guard against 
all accumulations of dust, since such accumulations may 
harbor dangerous germs. Dust, especially when decompos- 
ing under the influence of heat and moisture, is the source 
of the close, stuffy odor often noticed in ill-ventilated or 
heavily furnished rooms. On this account the use of up- 
holstered furniture or heavy woollen draperies of loose tex- 
ture, which cannot be easily freed from dust, should be 
reduced to the lowest possible point. 
To propitiate the goddess of health we can well afford to 
sacrifice on her altar the superfluous draperies, carpets, and 
ornaments of our living and sleeping rooms. Ill-ventilated 
parlors, crowded with upholstered furniture, and barricaded 
against fresh air and sunshine by two sets of blinds, two sets 
of shades, and lace curtains or heavy draperies, are not un- 
common. If their owners would take away half these bar- 
riers and leave the other half wide open, the good cheer and 
vigorous life which stream in with the sunshine would 
speedly convert regret at the loss into rejoicing at the greater 
gain. 
Carpets entirely covering the floor cannot be kept thor- 
oughly clean, and are, moreover, a constant temptation to 
the economical housewife to exclude the sun. Hard polished 
or painted floors, with rugs, are far preferable. They may 
be kept clean by wiping with a dry woollen mop. 
As the sanitary object of dusting is to remove dust entirely 
from the house, and not merely to scatter it out of sight, care 
should be taken to correct the too-prevalent notion that flirt- 54 
HOME SANITATION, 
ing a cloth about a room is dusting. Cheese-cloth, scrim, 
or some woollen material which can effectively gather up the 
dust and can be easily washed, should be used. 
Steam radiators having large and irregular horizontal sur- 
faces should be replaced with smooth vertical pipes. 
Registers need frequent and careful cleaning. 
QUESTIONS. 
1. Is the inside finish of the house as free as possible from 
horizontal projections, such as elaborate cornices and man- 
tels, which may serve as lodging-places for dust? 
2. Are the walls finished with paint or with smooth paper 
which can be easily freed from dust by the use of a wall- 
mop ? 
Note. — A good wall-mop may be made by fastening a 
soft cloth firmly ai'ound a broom. 
3. Are the wall-papers, draperies, and carpets free from 
arsenic ? 
4. In case rugs or carpets covering only a portion of the 
floor are not adopted, are the edges of the carpet frequently 
cleaned after sweeping, by the use of a damp sponge or 
cloth ? 
5. If thei'e is a carpet under the dining-room table, is it 
occasionally sent to the naphtha laundry to be cleansed? 
6. Are the inside shutters made without slats ? 
7. Are Venetian blinds banished to the piazza ? 
8. Are the windows of all rooms so curtained as to per- 
mit free admission of the sunlight, and to offer scant hospi- 
tality to dust? 
I. General. FURNISHING. 
55 
9. Are hangings and draperies so arranged as to be easily 
taken down and shaken ? 
10. Is the upholstered furniture made without tufting, so 
that it can be thoroughly cleaned by brushing ? 
11. Do the living-rooms contain neither furniture nor or- 
naments which cannot be properly cared for by daily dust- 
ing? 
12. Are clothes-presses, cupboards, and store-rooms kept 
free from dust, mould, and accumulations of rubbish? 
II. The Bed-rooms. 
1. Are useless ornaments and needle-work banished from 
the bed-rooms? 
2. Have the windows such curtains only as can be 
washed ? 
3. Is the air allowed to circulate freely around the beds, 
unobstructed by curtains ? 
4. Are mattresses substituted for feather-beds ? 
5. Are mattresses and pillows occasionally cleansed with 
naphtha, or otherwise, and frequently exposed to the direct 
rays of the sun for several consecutive hours? 
6. Are the bed-coverings of a material which can be 
washed ? 
7. Are they thoroughly aired every morning? 
8. If mantel-beds or folding-beds must be used, are they 
so made as to allow, when folded, the circulation of air about 
the mattress ? 
9. Are soiled clothes removed at once from the sleeping- 
rooms ? 56 
HOME SANITATION. 
III. The Bath-room. 
1. Has the bath-room a tiled, oiled, or painted floor, with 
no other carpet than a rug ? 
2. Are its walls finished with tiles, paint, or varnished 
paper, to prevent the absorption of moisture and odors? 
3. Are those receptacles for dust and rubbish, the drawei's 
and cupboard usually connected with the set-bowl, exchanged 
for a wall-cupboard? 
4. In summer, does the fly-screen cover the whole win- 
dow, so that the upper sash can be lowered as well as the 
lower one raised ? 
IV. The Kitchen. 
1. Is the kitchen floor either oiled, or covered with oil- 
cloth ? 
Note. — Oil-cloth carpets must be fitted closely to the wall, 
in order that dust may not collect under the edges. Great 
care should be exercised in washing them, lest water run 
under the edges. 
2. Are the walls made proof against moisture and odors 
by tiles, paint, or varnished paper? 
3. Is the kitchen free from that nuisance, a closet under 
the sink ? 
Note. — This closet too often serves an untidy servant as 
a place of concealment for unwashed pots and pans, soiled 
rags, etc., and is an attractive spot for water-bugs. 
4. Is a large, light, and aiiy pantry substituted for the 
several small, dark cupboards which usually join the 
kitchen ? 
5. Is the sink of porcelain, soapstone, or iron? FURNISHING. 
5 7 
6. Is the pipe which conveys the drippings from the re- 
frigerator entirely disconnected from the drainage system of 
the house? 
Note. — All shelves, boxes, and jars, especially refriger- 
ators, in which food is kept, should be kept with the most 
scrupulous care, and usually only the “ eternal vigilance” 
of the mistress herself will accomplish this. 58 
HOME SANITATION. 
CHAPTER VIII. 
CLOTHING. 
IT is impossible to make rules for clothing which will 
apply to every one. Habit, condition of health, and 
peculiarities of temperament have so much influence that a 
system of dress which is the best possible for one person 
might not at all suit another. Moreover, for those who are 
unwilling to make themselves conspicuous by a decided 
departure from the prevailing style, an ideal dress is at 
present impossible ; still, most women could clothe them- 
selves far more healthfully than is at present customary by 
careful selection of the least objectionable styles. Some 
general principles and a few practical hints may be given 
here. 
The clothing, first of all, should be perfectly comfortable ; 
and, in general, it is not comfortable if one needs to remove or 
loosen it in order to rest, or if a sense of relief is experienced 
when it is laid aside for the night. It should always be loose 
enough to allow the wearer to take a full, deep breath. It is 
certainly not reasonable to be obliged to expel the breath in 
order to make the fastening of the clothes possible. 
One of the most common mistakes in clothing is to cover 
the trunk of the body with thickness after thickness of mate- 
rial, while the arms and legs thinly clad. The body 
ought to be as far as possible evenly covei'ed ; but, ordi- 
narily, the flannel vest, corset, corset-cover, and dress-waist 
extend perhaps six inches below the waist-line, while CLOTHING. 
59 
cotton and perhaps flannel drawers, flannel and cotton or 
even quilted skirt, and dress-skirt extend to the waist line, 
making at least nine thicknesses about the middle of the 
body. 
If a part of this clothing could be transferred to the ex- 
tremities it would give greater warmth as well as more 
comfort to the whole body. 
To avoid multiple thicknesses many adopt the plan of 
buttoning to a waist, below the waist-line, the under-skirt 
and drawers, which are made with well-fitting yokes. Union 
under-garments also lessen the evil, and at the same time 
aid in the important matter of distributing the weight of the 
clothing over the body. 
Tight bands, such as round garters, impede the circula- 
tion, and are hurtful. 
Nothing could be worse than to allow the weight of the 
skirts to come upon the hips and back. Some obviate this diffi- 
culty by the use of suspenders or shoulder-straps ; but many 
find these uncomfortable, and still feel the weight of the 
clothing, with the difference only that it has been trans- 
ferred to the shoulders. A much more satisfactory method, 
unless the combination suits are used, is to button under- 
skirts and drawers to a waist. The dress-skirt should be 
buttoned to the dress-waist by tapes attached to the seams. 
All clothing should be as light as is consistent with 
warmth. Very heavy clothes, jet, and other heavy trim- 
mings should be avoided. Plaitings and similar trimmings, 
which add much to the weight of the dress, are often con- 
cealed by the draperies, and might be omitted to advantage. 
Care should be taken, when choosing the style for making a 
dress, to select one in which the weight is as nearly as pos- 
sible evenly distributed, since dresses are often made so heavy 6o 
HOME SANITATION. 
in places, that they are extremely uncomfortable, as well as 
injurious, to the wearer. 
All stuffed cushions used as bustles, or to make “ a good 
figure,” are extremely objectionable. They produce intense 
heat and tend to cause local inflammation and weakness. 
A well-fitting waist is much to be preferred to a corset; 
but, if the corset is to be worn, it should be provided with 
elastic lacings, and by no means should be allowed to 
carry the weight of the clothing, unless supported by 
shoulder-straps. 
It would seem unnecessary to say that the clothing should 
be sufficiently warm ; yet it is true that many apparently 
well-dressed women are insufficiently clothed. In the ma- 
jority of cases, woollen clothing, vest, drawers, and stock- 
ings, should be worn next to the skin in winter. It is ad- 
visable that those who perspire freely should wear a light 
quality in summer. If wool irritates the skin, silk is second 
in desirability for those who can afford it, or gossamer 
underwear and thin cotton stockings may be used under the 
woollen clothing in winter, thus securing the warmth of the 
latter without the irritation caused by it. 
Most people, however, would experience no discomfort 
from wool, if they procured a soft, fine quality. The stock- 
inet manufactured by the Jaeger Co., though quite expensive, 
is so soft and fine that no skin could be irritated by it. If 
one desires a light-weight garment, and can manufacture it 
herself, the angola flannel is a very desirable material. 
Soft cashmere vests can be obtained at reasonable prices. 
It is a great saving in weight and a help toward freedom 
of movement to dispense with all skirts but one under the 
dress. The under-skirt, especially if it be of flannel, serves 
chiefly to entangle the legs when one is walking, and is CLOTHING. 
61 
bulky, while affording little real warmth. Bloomer drawers, 
which many Canadian women find indispensable, form an 
excellent substitute in winter. Some prefer to use them 
only when going out of doors in cold weather, while others 
find them comfortable to wear in the house as well. They 
are much warmer than the skirt, and are far easier to 
walk in. 
Wristers add much to the warmth of the body in winter. 
The reason that protection to the wrist and knees aids effec- 
tively in securing the warmth of the body is that, at these 
joints, the blood-vessels lie very near the surface, and are 
more affected by outside temperature than at any other spot. 
All are familiar with the effect produced by placing the 
wrist on a cold marble slab or under a stream of cold 
water. 
The shoes should be square-toed with a low heel, well set 
back, not under the middle of the foot. Especial care 
should be used to obtain a perfect-fitting boot, neither too 
large nor too small. Cold feet are often due to imperfect 
circulation, caused by tight boots. 
Whatever may be true of the elders, there is no reason 
why children should not be clothed comfortably and health- 
fully, without departing in appearance from present styles. 
With flannel vest and drawers, sufficiently heavy in win- 
ter, and very light in summer, cotton waist and drawers, 
one skirt, and the dress made in one piece, all loose, the 
little folks may be perfectly comfortable. In winter, when 
the child goes out, warm leggins and mittens are quite as 
essential to his comfort, as the cloak and hood. 
The baby’s clothes should be perfectly loose, and made to 
hang from the shoulders. Care should be taken to keep 
the bowels warm ; but this can be accomplished better by the 62 
HOME SANITATION. 
little shirt, pinned to the diaper, than by the flannel band, 
which is always getting out of place. 
For babies just put into short clothes, little flannel drawers 
can now be obtained, made with the two legs separate, 
and so shaped that they do not interfere with the wear- 
ing of the diaper. Furnished wdth these, and with long 
woollen stockings, the baby can be put into short clothes in 
the middle of winter without danger of taking cold. FOOD AND DRINK. 
63 
CHAPTER IX. 
FOOD AND DRINK. 
THE question of food is one into which personal idio- 
syncrasy enters more largely than into any other sub- 
ject. The old saying, “ What is one man’s meat is an- 
other man’s poison,” has its foundation in fact; and yet, on 
close examination, it will be seen that the influence of cus- 
tom and conventionality is quite as strong in relation to 
food as in regard to dress. There is, perhaps, even less 
adaptation of the diet to climatic and other conditions, and 
as little originality of thought or independence of action. 
The farmer, instead of using the best of the farm products, 
and allowing the children to drink the milk, sells butter and 
eggs to buy sugar and fine flour for cake, because cake is, 
conventionally, the correct thing to have. The city house- 
keeper must have lobster-salad for her party, even if the 
lobsters are two days from the salt-water. 
In no other department of living has the mistress of the 
family so completely the control as in the case of food ; 
and yet but little scientific knowledge and careful thought 
are brought to the proper combination of food materials, 
in order that the diet may be that which is necessary for 
perfect health. * 
Good digestion is essential to good temper. The fretful- 
ness of the child, or the nervousness of the man, indicates 
unsuitable or insufficient nutrition, and the services of the 
physician are less needed than those of the scientific cook. 64 
HOME SANITATION. 
The two great offices of food — to keep the body warm 
and to keep it in working condition — are fulfilled by three 
classes of food substances : (i) Those called nitrogenous, 
are necessary for the growth of the living organism; (2) 
those consisting mainly of starch and sugar, called carbo- 
hydrates, and (3) fat, are largely used up in maintaining 
bodily heat. Milk, eggs, and wheat contain these several 
classes in about the right proportion, hence mush and milk, 
or eggs on toast, are suitable and rightly-balanced foods ; 
but many of the articles of modern diet are of a very dif- 
ferent character, belonging to one class only. Rice is 
nearly all starch, butter is nearly all fat; lean of meat is 
largely nitrogenous, or muscle-making food ; vegetables and 
fruit are nearly all water. No one of these substances is 
sufficient by itself to sustain life, but several must be com- 
bined in order to keep the body in health. 
It is in the study of food-substances, and their possibilities 
in relation to better sanitary condition, that the widest field 
is now open to housekeepers, and the subject is one which 
is especially fascinating to women of education and ability. 
All the skill and knowledge of the best-educated women 
should be enlisted in the cause of better food for the people. 
Certainly no subject, except that of pure air, can have a 
closer bearing upon the health of the household than right- 
ly proportioned diet. Attention is just now being called 
to the subject, and, among the names of books at the end of 
this volume, some will be found which are especially help- 
ful or suggestive, and which clearly explain some of the 
points which are only referred to here. FOOD AND DRINK. 
65 
QUESTIONS. 
1. Do you quietly supervise the weekly dietary, so that 
a due proportion of the essential food-elements are set 
before the family in a palatable form ? 
2. Is the proportion of the nitrogenous part to the starch, 
sugar, and fats, about one to four ? 
3. When planning the food do you bear in mind the 
changes necessitated by the great variations of climate, and 
do you adapt the dietary to the season ? 
4. Do you, for instance, provide fruit and vegetables, 
instead of puddings and rich entrees during the early 
spring; fish sometimes, instead of meat, during the early 
summer days ? 
5. In the early fall do you keep close watch over the 
fruit and vegetables to see that they are ripe and yet fresh ? 
6. In the late fall do you give the most generous diet of 
the year? 
7. Do you provide the children with pure milk, and 
with food containing mineral salts ? 
8. Do you see that the old people are provided with 
easily-digested food, so as not to invite disease by overtaxing 
the digestive organs? 
9. Are you careful in respect to the use of tea and coffee 
by young people ? 
10. Do you know definitely the source and surroundings 
of the water-supply ? 
x 1. Do you take especial care to have the water which 
has been standing in the pipe over night drawn off before 
the breakfast-kettle is filled ? 
12. Do you make sure that the tea-kettle is emptied and 
rinsed the first thing each morning ? 66 
HOME SANITATION. 
13. Do you positively forbid the use of water from the 
hot-water tank for cooking? 
14. Do you avoid the use of all soldered vessels for heat- 
ing water? 
15. Are all tanks or other vessels containing water to be 
used for drinking or cooking so placed as not to be exposed 
to foul air? 
16. If you use water from a well, has it been subjected to 
a chemical examination? 
17. If not, have you evaporated a pint or a quart on the 
stove in a white porcelain or china dish which is free from 
crackles and failed to detect any odor while evaporating or 
any considerable blackening of the residue when quite dry 
and slightly heated ? 
Note. — Sewage contamination causes a bad odor in such 
a case, and surface-water draining into a well will cause a 
dark residue which “ chars ” on heating. 
18. Do you look cai'efully after the surface of the ground 
near the well, and see that no drain opens near ; that no slops 
are thrown out in the vicinity ; and that the cover fits tightly, 
so that crickets and the like cannot make their way in? 
19. Is the well so situated that the bottom is above the 
cesspool, barn-yard or outlet of the sink drain, and so far 
from them as to avoid suspicion of soaking? 
20. Is the well examined each spring and fall, to see if 
anything has fallen or crawled into it? 
21. If the water is stored in a cistern, are the roofs and 
gutters carefully cleaned from dead leaves? 
22. If the water is brought from a distant spring, is it 
carried in iron or wooden pipes, not in lead or galvanized 
iron? or, if in lead, do you know that it is not acted upon 
by the water ? FOOD AND DRINK. 
67 
23. Is the water nearly odorless when boiling? 
24. Is the cistern kept carefully cleaned and well aired, 
and is it accessible ? 
25. If the water is from a town supply, have you tested it 
by tying a square of clean linen over the faucet, and ex- 
amining, after two days’ use, to see if there is need of a filter? 
Note. — This simple filter is very good ; a sand or char- 
coal filter may be used. It should not be a complicated one, 
however, and should be carefully looked after, and frequently 
cleaned. In case of an epidemic in the neighborhood all 
water should be boiled before it is used for drinking 0 
cooking. 68 
HOME SANITATION. 
CHAPTER X. 
SANITARY WORK FOR WOMEN. 
A paper read before the Association of Collegiate Alumnas, May 2S, 1S87, 
by Annie E. Allen. 
EVERY woman should have a knowledge of sanitation 
at her command. Its value rests not only on its gen- 
eral importance, but on its wide applicability. It 
is essential in the most varied social relations. Whether a 
woman is selecting a dwelling-place for herself, making a 
home for others, or providing the surroundings of young 
children, the knowledge and observance of sanitary laws is 
a requisite for the satisfactory fulfilment of her duties. In 
all more public forms of responsibility which women are 
called upon to assume, such as, work upon school commit- 
tees, positions either upon boards, or as officials of penal 
and charitable institutions, and in all philanthropic work, a 
scientific and thorough understanding of sanitation, as well 
as of hygiene, is the only solid foundation of successful 
effort. 
Housekeepers. It is, first of all, to women as house- 
keepers that sanitary science is valuable. Our social order 
gives to most women, during a greater portion of their lives, 
the responsibility of creating and preserving the conditions 
of home life. Upon these conditions depends, in large 
measure, the health of the household, especially that of 
young children. Personal hygiene is also an essential part 
of any successful effort to secure and maintain health. But 69 
SANITARY WORK FOR WOMEN. 
no amount of hygienic precautions in regard to clothing, 
bathing, eating, exercising, and sleeping will avail, if air is 
provided which is laden with organic impurities and germs 
of disease, and which has had its life-giving properties 
exhausted by repeated inhalations. 
The Plumber. When the housekeeper has a plan of 
every inch of pipe in her house, and the plumbing is simple, 
accessible, made of sound material, kept clean and well 
ventilated and periodically inspected, there will be little 
occasion for the plumber. But a knowledge of sanitary 
laws enables the housekeeper to send for him in season, to 
have an intelligent oversight of his work, and to make timely 
suggestions. It also enables her to understand the im- 
portance of good work and good material, and the false 
economy of accepting poor substitutes for these essentials. 
It brings home to her the danger of postponing the expense 
or trouble of calling in the plumber when the life and 
strength of the household are at stake. 
Servants. The housekeeper has a serious responsibility 
in the training of servants. Many of them will have homes 
of their own, and become centres of wide-reaching influ- 
ence under conditions which make habits of cleanliness and 
watchfulness of the greatest importance. 
Summer Resorts. — It is not enough for the house- 
holder in the city or country house to know that at home 
the water supply is pure ; the air uncontaminated by damp 
or foul ground-air rising through the cellar and house; 
the waste products carried away quickly and completely, 
and their foul emanations not allowed to escape back 
through the fixtures. She should be even more cautious 
at seaside or country resorts, where the provisions made 
for the few brief summer months are notoriously defective, 70 
HOME SANITATION. 
and where the presumption is against anything but imper- 
fect arrangements. Yet people, who are comparatively 
enlightened in these matters and careful at home, often go 
to such places, and even take young children, without 
examining the water-supply or drainage. They content 
themselves with the assurance of the landlady, or at most 
the general reputation of the place for healthfulness, with- 
out personal inspection. 
Boarding-houses. The city boarding-house is another 
possible source of ill-health. More or less elaborate 
plumbing is demanded by the relatively large household, 
and the expense of plumbing increases in geometrical 
ratio to the number of fixtures. But the money-making 
object of the building can be met only by great apparent 
convenience to attract boarders, and cheap work to save 
cost. 
Duty to Self. It should not be forgotten that, while 
the head of a family has peculiar and complicated respon- 
sibilities, the individual, in selecting her own boarding- 
place, has a no less serious duty to herself and to her 
work in the world, in guarding her health by a wise choice 
of sanitary surroundings, and by such precautions as are 
possible. 
Boarding-schools. The same probability of danger noted 
in the boarding-house attends the boarding-school. Simi- 
lar conditions often exist of a building originally designed 
for a private family, and afterwards adapted to large num- 
bers. This is likely to result in defective plumbing; small, 
stuffy recitation-rooms; dark closets for outer clothing; 
damp, narrow, close halls, from which much of the house 
is furnished with such air as it gets. The head of a private 
boarding-school has some serious and difficult problems to SANITARY WORK FOR WOMEN. 
71 
solve in sanitary science, and great credit is due to many 
who have successfully found the solution. 
Public Schools. The teachers in our public schools 
almost universally suffer from inadequate ventilation. In 
the school-rooms are children to whose clothing and per- 
sons little care is given, and the drainage system is often 
poorly arranged and improperly cared for. The teacher is 
comparatively helpless. Her influence can be only indirect 
and personal; by example, by a word here and there, and 
by cautious and tactful suggestion and assistance. To in- 
terest and aid the janitor, to arouse public sentiment among 
fellow-teachers, to influence the children, is a work that 
lies within the reach of the woman who thoroughly under- 
stands sanitary principles. 
Mothers and Schools. The problem of reaching pai'ents, 
and of rousing the general public to interest on the subject 
of school sanitation, has not yet been solved. But it will 
be difficult to obtain better conditions until mothers realize 
the vital importance of healthful conditions in the school- 
room as well as at home, and understand in what these 
conditions consist. 
School Committee. The quiet, vigilant, effective work 
of personal inspection and suggestion which is accomplished 
by women on the school committee seems to indicate that, 
when the work of competent women as public officials is 
more widely extended, good practical results may follow. 
On local boards of health, and as trustees of charitable and 
penal institutions, there is much work that is especially fitted 
for women, and that calls for intelligent, practical knowl- 
edge of sanitary facts and principles. 
Philanthropic Work. The whole field of philanthropic 
effort demands such knowledge as a prerequisite for work 72 
HOME SANITATION. 
that strikes at the very roots of moral and social difficulties. 
The causes of the centres of the moral and physical disease 
and impurity that exist in the midst of us are extremely com- 
plex, and interwoven with the very fabric of our civilization. 
Any deep-reaching change must be difficult and slow, — 
a historic and social growth. The great problem of the 
distribution of wealth will not be solved by any one country 
or generation ; but the distribution of intelligence among 
the poor, which enables them to use the means they have to 
the best advantage, is the especial opportunity of women, 
and one step toward the solution of the greater problem. 
Sanitary legislation is essential, and is making progress ; 
but no great reform is the work of a day. In sanitary mat- 
ters, more than any other, personal, individual service 
must go hand-in-hand with legislation in order to make 
legislation effective. The habits of people must be im- 
proved as well as their houses. Temperance organizations 
have done a great work, but they will not effect a truly 
national and radical reform until they strike at the root of 
the evil. Bad food, unwholesome surroundings, unclean 
habits, and foul air, are the best friends of alcohol. 
It is no longer necessary to defend and prove as an abstract 
theory the importance of health, the close relation between 
bodily vigor and mental activity and soundness, the impos- 
sibility, without health, of the best work, or the keenest 
pleasure, or the most completely poised and sustained char- 
acter. 
Theoretically, we respect the physical foundations. But, 
practically, we say, “We will build first our structure of 
domestic duties and social pleasures, of intellectual achieve- 
ment, of philanthropic and church work, and then, if we find 
the physical underpinning a little shaky, we will prop it up SANITARY WORK FOR WOMEN. 
7 3 
with a tonic or a vacation.” But the physical life is no more to 
be established on this confused and chaotic system than the 
intellectual or the moral life. Health can be secured only 
by effort as continuous, as carefully adapted, and as system- 
atic as the processes of physical life themselves. 
If, for instance, we could save all our breathing for the 
year, and condense it into the brief period after the spring 
cleaning, spasmodic effort would do very well. But, until 
the. human body can content itself with an annual breathing- 
spell, the daily, hourly, momently need of pure, fresh air 
should be respected. 
The day is past when sickness was held to be a direct 
interference of Providence, as retributive punishment. Pes- 
tilence, fevers, and weakness are, indeed, penalties for sin, 
but it is for the sin of ignorance. In this age of scientific 
enlightenment and invention and wide-spread information, 
ignorance of the primary conditions of health and vigor is 
unpardonable. A knowledge of sanitary principles should 
be regarded as an essential part of every woman’s education, 
and obedience to sanitary laws should be ranked, as it was 
in the Mosaic Code, as a religious duty. 74 
HOME SANITATION. 
LIST OF BOOKS OF REFERENCE. 
Manual of Practical Hygiene. By E. A. Parkes. 
P. Blakiston, Son & Co., Philadelphia. $3. Standard 
authority. 
Our Homes and How to Make Them Healthy. Ed- 
ited by Shirley Murphy. Cassell & Co., London. $5. 
Handbook of Hygiene and Sanitary Science. By 
George Wilson, M.D. P. Blakiston, Son, & Co., Phil- 
adelphia. $2.75. 
How to Live, or Health and Healthy Homes. By 
George Wilson, M.D. P. Blakiston, Son, & Co., Phil- 
adelphia. A concise and practical treatise. 
Sanitary Drainage of Houses and Towns. By 
George E. Waring, Jr. Houghton, Mifflin, & Co., 
Boston. $2. With special chapters on the dry con- 
servancy system, and methods of disposal of sewage. 
How to Drain a House. By G. E. Waring, Jr. Henry 
Holt & Co., New York. $1.25. Practical informa- 
tion for householders about plumbing apparatus and 
the construction of drains. 
Principles and Practice of House Drainage. By 
G. E. Waring, Jr. Articles in the Century Magazine 
for November and December, 18S4. 
The Sanitary Condition of Dwelling-Houses in 
Town and Country. By G. E. Waring, Jr. Van 
Nostrand Science Series, No. 31. New York. 50 
cents. BOOKS OF REFERENCE. 
75 
House Drainage and Sanitary Plumbing. By W. P. 
Gerhard. Van Nostrand Science Series, No. 63. 50 
cents. Details of plumbing and drainage described. 
A valuable and useful manual. 
Dwelling-Houses : their Sanitary Construction 
and Arrangements. By W. H. Corfield. Van 
Nostrand Science Series, No. 50. 50 cents. Practical 
suggestions as to sanitary appliances and building ma- 
terials. 
Building Superintendence. By Theodore M. Clark. 
Ticknor & Co., Boston. $3. Especially valuable for 
those who are planning or building a house. 
The Principles of House Drainage. By J. Pickering 
Putnam. Ticknor & Co., Boston. 75 cents. 
Women, Plumbers, and Doctors. By Mrs. H. M. 
Plunkett. D. Appleton & Co., New York. $1.25. 
“ Showing that if women and plumbers do their whole 
sanitary duty there will be comparatively little occasion 
for the services of doctors.” Suggestive illustrations 
and statements. 
House Drainage and Water Service. By Jas. C. 
Bayles. David Williams & Co., New York. $3. 
Deals almost exclusively with subjects in which house- 
holders are directly and immediately interested. 
Handbook of Sanitary Information for House- 
holders. By Roger S. Tracy, M.D. D. Appleton 
& Co., New York. 50 cents. 
Dangers to PIealth. By T. Pridgin Teale. J. & A. 
Churchill, London. $3. 
Heathy Houses. By Wm. Eassie. D. Appleton & Co. 
<lew York. 76 
HOME SANITATION. 
Ventilation and Heating. By J. S. Billings, M.D. 
The Sanitary Engineer, New York. $3. Giving the 
general principles and their practical application, with 
descriptions of various appliances. 
Air and its Relations to Life. By W. N. Hartley. 
D. Appleton & Co., New York. $1.50. 
Food and Dietetics. By F. W. Pavy. J. & A. 
Churchill, London. 
Food and Feeding. By Sir Henry Thompson. Warne 
& Co., London. 
The Chemistry of Cooking. By Mathieu Williams. 
D. Appleton & Co., New York. 
Foods. By A. H. Church. Chapman & Hall, London. 
Foods. By Edward Smith. Kegan Paul, French, & Co., 
London. 
Water Supply: Chemical and Sanitary. By Wm. 
Ripley Nichols. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 
The Chemistry of Cooking and Cleaning. By Ellen 
II. Richards. Estes & Lauriat, Boston. 50 cents. 
Food Materials and their Adulterations. By Ellen 
H. Richards. Estes & Lauriat. 75 cents. 
The Chemistry of Foods and Nutrition. By W. O. 
Atwater. Century Magazine, beginning May, 1887. 
The Boston School-kitchen Text-book. By Mrs. D. 
A. Lincoln. Roberts Bros., Boston. $1. 
Reports of the Massachusetts, New Jersey, Michigan, and 
other State Boards of Health. 
Sanitary Tracts issued by the Citizens’ Sanitary Society 
of Brooklyn. 5 cents each. INDEX. 
PAGE 
Air, burnt ........... 38 
Air-chamber .......... 37, 38 
Air, circulation of ......... 32 
Air, ground . . . . . . . . . 11, 12, 69 
Air, heating of 37 
Air, importance of pure . . . . . . .31, 5°> 55 
Ail-, moisture in ......... 40 
Air, temperature of ....... 35> 38 
Air, vitiation of, by lights ........ 47 
Artificial light .......... 46 
Ash-closet 28 
Bath-room 35> 56 
Bed-room ........... 34> 55 
Boarding-house .......... 7° 
Boarding-school ......... 7° 
Burners, choice of ......... 5° 
Carpet 54 
Ceiling, ventilation of 33> 35 
Cellar n» *3 
Cellar, dangers of a visit to n 
Cesspool 29 
Cistern 66, 67 
Closets, to be avoided 5^ 
Closets, ventilation of ....... 34 
Clothing 58, 59, 6°, 61 
Cold-air box 3&> 42> 43 
Consumption ....•••••• 10 78 
INDEX. 
PAGE 
Dampness of soil and cellar io, u 
Dietary 65 
Diphtheria 8 
Disposal of household wastes ....... 30 
Drains 13, 20, 22, 30, 66 
Drainage ...... .... 8, 15 
Drainage, examination of 16, 69 
Drainage, plan of ......... 19 
Drainage, sanitary, ten rules of ...... 17 
Drainage, three canons of house ...... 16 
Drainage system, illustration of ...... 18 
Drinking-water, contamination of ...... 66 
Dust and dusting ....... 12, 53, 55 
Earth-closet .......... 28 
Evaporation of water in traps ....... 23 
Field, Rogers, quoted . . . . . . . . 13 
Filter ............ 67 
Fireplace for ventilation 32 
Fixtures, inspection of plumbing 16, 69 
Flush-tank .......... 29 
Fresh-air inlet ...... . . . ' . 32 
Food 63, 64 
Furnishing, sanitary 52> 53 
Furnace 37> 38, 42> 43 
Furnace, care of ......... 38 
Furnace, illustrations of ....... 39, 41 
Gas-fixtures .......... 31 
Gerhard, W. P., quoted 
Germ theory of disease 33 
Grease-trap .......... 26 
Heating, essentials of 37> 38 
Home, hygiene of . . . 7, 68 
Home, essentials of a happy ....... g 
Hot-air pipes 38 
House-drain g INDEX. 
79 
PAGE 
House-drainage, three canons of • , . . . . . 16 
House-drainage, illustration ....... 18 
Housekeeper . . . . . . . . 7, 8, 15, 68, 69 
Housekeeper, motto of ....... 9 
House, situation of ........ 10 
House, surroundings ........ 10 
House, unsanitary ......... 8 
Irrigation, sub-surface ........ 29 
Kerosene lamp .......... 48, 50 
Kerosene lamp, explosion of ....... 49 
Kitchen, furnishing of ........ 56 
Kitchen sink .......... 30 
Kitchen ventilation ......... 36 
Lamp, kerosene .......... 48, 50 
Light, vitiation of air by artificial ...... 47 
Light, dangers of artificial ....... 46 
Mechanical trap ......... 24 
Open fires ........... 44 
Over-flow pipe ......... 23, 27 
Pail system .......... 28 
Pan-closet ........... 25 
Pan-closet, objections to ........ 26 
Peppermint test ......... 19 
Philanthropic work ......... 71 
Plumbing 15—27, 69 
Pot-trap ........... 24 
Public schools .......... 71 
Putnam, J. P., quoted ........ 17 
Radiators ........... 54 
Rain leaders 27 
Refrigerators .......... 27, 57 
Registers . 54 
Rheumatism .......... 20 80 
INDEX. 
PAGE 
Safe wastes .... 27 
Sanitary conditions maintained 8 
Sanitary drainage . . . . . . . # 
Sanitary furnishing . . . , . . . . • 53 
Sanitation, importance of knowledge of . . . . 7, 68, 73 
School Committee ......... 
Sewerage and sewage disposal 17, 29, 30 
Shoes 
Situation of house ......... 1o 
Siphonage 24 
Soil-pipe 22 
Soil, character of 13, 14 
Stoves 
Summer resorts ......... 69 
Sunshine in rooms ......... x4 
TraPs 20, 22, 23, 24 
Traps, evaporation of water in 23 
Traps, illustration of ......... 21 
Typhoid fever 
Ventilation, principles of . . . . . . . . 31-33 
Ventilation, objects of ........ 33 
Ventilation, methods of ...... 34) 36 
Ventilation of drain-pipes ....... 21 
Ventilation of the kitchen 36 
Vent-pipe 24, 25 
Waste-pipe 19, 22, 27 
Water 65, 66 
Water-closet .......... 23 
Water-closets, essentials of sanitary ..... 26 
Well