Fresh air is your great friend; it will help you to fight disease better than anything else. Open all your windows as often as you can, so that the air may get into every nook and corner. Never keep an unused room shut up. Disease germs, poisonous gases, mildew, insects, dust, and dirt have it all their own way in stale, used-up air. Air does not flow in and flow out of the same opening at the same time any more than water does, so you want two openings in a room—an open window to let the good air in, and a fireplace and chimney to let the stale air out, or whether there is no fireplace, a window open both at top and bottom. The night air in large towns is purer than the day air, and both in town and country you should sleep with your window open if you want to be healthy. Draughts are not good, as they carry away the heat from your body too fast; so if your bed is too near the window, put up a shelter between it and the open window and cover yourself more. At least one window on a staircase or landing should always be kept open, and also the pantry and the closet windows.
Tidiness.—Half your time will be saved if little things are kept tidy. Have a place for everything, and have everything in its place. If you are not sure which is the right place for a thing, think “Where, if I wanted it, should I go to look for it?” That place is the right one. Get into the habit of always making a ball of any string you get and collect them.
War must be waged against rats and mice, or they will invade you and loot everything. If you have no mouse-traps, put a newspaper over a pail of water, break a hole slightly in the centre in the form of a star, and place a bit of cheese on the centre tips of star to entice the mouse. Let the paper reach to the floor, not too upright, for the mouse to climb up. Try putting broken camphor into their holes; they dislike the smell. Fly and wasp traps are made by tying paper over a tumbler half-filled with water and beer or molasses. Break a hole in the paper, and fit in a tube of rolled paper about one inch long and one inch across.
Damp is never healthy, and you can prevent it to a great extent by letting plenty of fresh air go through your house and rooms which have been shut up.
When you see signs of damp, try to find out the cause; it may be put right. A pipe or gutter may have got blocked, or there may be a loose shingle, or the water pipes may be leaking.
In countries where there are mosquitoes people are very careful not to allow any water to lie near their houses, for the poisonous mosquito breeds in stagnant water. Sunflowers planted near a house help to keep the soil dry; also low bushes and plants. Consumption and other deadly disease germs flourish in damp, ill-aired houses.
Sunlight is a great health-giver and disinfectant, and the more of it you have in your house the better. Long ago people used to shut out the sun and air for fear their curtains and carpets would fade, but it is far better that the sun should fade your curtains than that the darkness should fade you. Cases of consumption are rare in dry, sunny houses.
Nurseries and bedrooms should have plenty of morning and mid-day sun.
Motto: “Tidy as you go.”
Cleanliness in every part of the house is most necessary, especially kitchen and refrigerators. Do not let dust or rubbish collect anywhere, behind furniture or pictures, under beds, or in cupboards. If we realised what horrid things we may collect from pavement or street dust on our skirts and shoes, we should be much more careful about the dusting of our rooms.