Why is it not a good plan to buy dead fish?
Why are crabs and shellfish a poor sort of food?
What does good rice look like?
What kinds of rice should be avoided?
What sort of food and drink are best for the tropics?
How ought babies and young children to be fed?
CHAPTER IV.
ALL AROUND THE HOUSE.
The English people have a saying: “Every man’s house is his castle.” In his own house a man ought to be safe, if he is to be so anywhere, and there he ought to feel sure that his family is safe. With his strong right arm he will keep all enemies away; will fight, if need be, for the safety of his castle. It would be a very mean man who would not do this. We should think even a child a coward who did not help to defend his home. But while we defend the front door, we must not let enemies creep in at the back. Now, the deadliest enemy of human life in the tropics is dirt. We have to fight hard against dirt of every sort. Let us see, to-day, about building a house and keeping our enemy out of it.
Every country must have its own particular kind of a house. The house suitable for a cold country would not do at all in the country where we are now. We do not need walls built so as to keep out cold and winds. We have no use for fires to fight off frost and chill. But houses in countries where the winters are cold and snowy must have thick walls; they must have carpets on the floors and heavy curtains at the windows. There must be fires in the houses, to keep people warm. If the houses were not warm, people would suffer from cold and many would die.