Why windows should be kept open at night
Many people seem to think that they do not need fresh air at night, and they close their bedroom windows as tight as they can. Those people do not sleep well and often have bad colds. You should always sleep with your windows open. If it is impossible for you to have your windows open without having a draft, choose the draft; it will do you no harm if you are well covered, and under no circumstances will it do you as much harm as the foul air that you breathe if your window is closed. Some persons (fortunately they are few nowadays) will tell you that night air is dangerous. I wonder what kind of air these people expect to breathe at night. Do they expect to fill the room in the daytime with enough air for use at night? Such air would certainly not be very fresh. Night air is the only kind of air that it is possible to breathe at night.
The ventilation of public assembly rooms
Churches, theaters, and ten-cent shows are often very poorly ventilated. You can always tell a poorly ventilated room by the foul odor when you go into it from the fresh air, and it is not wise to stay in such a room. You are killing the cells in your body when you do so, and you will very probably come out of it with a bad cold. When the fresh air strikes you, you feel chilly and you may think you are taking cold then, but in reality you took cold in that room full of foul air.
Ventilation of workshops
Workshops are often poorly ventilated. No person should ever work in a badly ventilated place. The labor unions frequently strike for higher wages, but until recently a strike for better ventilation was rarely heard of. Better ventilation would be practically equal to an increase in wages, because there would be fewer doctors' bills to pay, and less likelihood of losing work through illness. Always have plenty of pure, fresh air wherever you are—in school, in bed, at work, or at play.
Why we should breathe through the nose
The cells in the skin of the nose secrete a watery fluid, and this fluid serves to moisten the air as it passes through the nose. Dry air irritates the mucous membrane which lines the nose, throat, and lungs, and it is very important that the air be moistened before it reaches the throat. Air is also warmed as it passes through the nose. Cold air is irritating to the throat and lungs. The small hairs in the nose catch the dust and dirt in the air and prevent it from going into the lungs.
The nose was made to breathe through, and all the air that goes into your lungs should pass through your nose, in order that it may be moistened, warmed, and cleansed.
