On the whole, ventilation without complex and cumbersome mechanisms is to be preferred.[15]
FOOTNOTES:
[13] In cerebro-spinal meningitis, tuberculosis, and pneumonia, fresh air is curative. Any person, sick or well, cannot have too much fresh air. The windows of sleeping rooms should always be kept open at night.—Editor.
[14] These outlets may be placed close to a chimney or heating pipes. Warm air rises and thus will be forced out, allowing cool fresh air to enter at the inlets.—Editor.
[15] The ordinary dwelling house needs no artificial methods of ventilation. The opening and closing of windows will supply all necessary regulation in this regard. The temperature of living rooms should be kept, in general, at 70° F. Almost all rooms for the sick are unfortunately overheated. Cool, fresh air is one of the most potent means of curing disease. Overheated rooms are a menace to health.—Editor.
CHAPTER III
Warming
Ventilation and Heating.—The subject of the heating of our rooms and houses is very closely allied to that of ventilation, not only because both are a special necessity at the same time of the year, but also because we cannot heat a room without at the same time having to ventilate it by providing an egress for the products of combustion and introducing fresh air to replace the vitiated.
Need of Heating.—In a large part of the country, and during the greater period of the year, some mode of artificial heating of rooms is absolutely necessary for our comfort and health. The temperature of the body is 98° to 99° F., and there is a constant radiation of heat due to the cooling of the body surface. If the external temperature is very much below that of the body, and if the low temperature is prolonged, the radiation of heat from the body is too rapid, and colds, pneumonia, etc., result. The temperature essential for the individual varies according to age, constitution, health, environment, occupation, etc. A child, a sick person, or one at rest requires a relatively higher temperature than a healthy adult at work. The mean temperature of a room most conducive to the health of the average person is from 65° to 75° F.