The enormous importance of the housing of the poor, when con sidered in its relation to questions of health, makes it urgent to strive to the end that they may participate in the advances made in home hygiene and live in a manner better than heretofore, at a rental low enough to be within their reach. Above all, the dwellings of the poor should be dry, well ventilated, and have running water. They should be built only in sections free from miasma, upon dry, non-swampy ground.
The scarcity of small dwellings is due to the great lack of space. Often the whole family is crowded in a single room, which is frequently the bedroom, living room, and kitchen combined, where the air is damp from clothes hung up to dry. Such inferior dwelling places as these offer the most favorable conditions for infection and the spread of many diseases, owing to the impure air and the accumulation of dirt and germs of all kinds. Other ills which almost inevitably result from these condi Lions are amemia, rachitis, and tuberculosis. Here is an opportunity for the government, for cooperative societies, and, last but not least, fur philanthropic bodies to engage in social work whose possibilities are boundless, to give to the workers and their families cheap and hygienic homes. When carried out upon broad lines, as has been done in some places, the results are excellent. The prophylactic measures instituted prevent, or diminish, just those conditions which are of such serious import, and so fatal in childhood. Every physician should do all in his power to arouse interest in the effort to improve time hygienic conditions of the dwellings of the poor, to whom the matter is of far greater impor tance than it is to those in better circumstances.
The following suggestions in regard to the housing of the child. can, however, be carried out in part only by the better class of families: It is desirable that, from a very early age, children should have their own bedrooms and not sleep in the same apartments as the par ents. The question of asthetics, as well as of health, make this advisa ble. At the beginning of school life, if not earlier, it is desirable that a play room or work room be fitted up for the child. Both rooms should be as large and airy as possible, easily ventilated, and dry. If possible,
southern exposure should be selected. In neither room should the temperature be kept too high, 1S°-19° C. (64°-66° F.) during the colder months should suffice. In the sleeping rooms of older children the temperature should be 14°-15° C. (57°-59° F.) and for children under three years, 1S°-19° C. (6-1°-66° F.). "Unless the temperature outside is entirely too cold, the sleeping rooms should not be heated at all; certainly not where the children are over three years of age. For infants, the heating of the bedroom can hardly be dispensed with. Formerly, the heating of rooms was best accomplished by means of a tile stove, but this has been succeeded in most places, at least in cities, by steam heat. Owing to the greater dryness of the air with this method of heat ing, the necessity for ventilating the rooms is even greater than in for mer years, and this is especially the case with bedrooms, the windows of which should be kept open all day. It is necessary also to purify the air in the living rooms by opening the windows frequently, for shorter or longer periods. Beside proper ventilation, it is important also to keep the rooms as free from dust as possible by wiping up the floors with a damp cloth at least twice daily. Painted floors, or those covered by linoleum, are easily kept clean and are least likely to allow accumu lation of dust.
It is essential that the rooms be furnished in the simplest manner. The walls should be painted with white or gray oil paint, so that they may be frequently washed and readily disinfected. Light, washable hangings or curtains should be used at the windows instead of heavy portieres, so that the room will not be darkened. Linoleum should be used in children's rooms instead of carpet. Lpholstered furniture like wise is unsuitable for children's rooms; plain \VMOdell tables and chairs should constitute the furnishing. The height of the seats should be regulated according to the size of the child, and for school-work they are to be recommended in preference to the individual writing desks ("Verstellbare ''), at which children are more likely to lose their normal carriage than to correct deformities.