The floors of houses should be smooth and have close seams. Broad seams favour the accumulation of (lust, and allow the scrubbing-water to run between the ridges, where it may decompose and cause a disagreeable odour. The best flooring is one made of parquetry embedded in tar. Stone floors are cold ; and like poor wooden floors they should be covered with linoleum, at least in the living-rooms and sleeping-rooms.
The cause of dampness is not always easily established, but if depending upon poor construction it can be remedied only by alterations in the structure of the building. In such a case it is best to consult an authority, and not follow the advice of interested business people who may advise sonic " unfailing " remedy. Dampness frequently results from some improper arrangement in a house. Rooms with thin walls will always be damp in winter if not sufficiently heated, for the moisture in the atmosphere of the room will condense on the cool walls. When a number of persons are together in a room, this dampness will be increased by the moisture which they throw off in breathing. Among the poorer classes, dampness in dwellings is often caused by allowing the doors connecting the living-rooms with the kitchen to remain open for the sake of utilising the heat from the range. The moisture from the cooking and washing pours from the kitchen into the adjoining rooms and condenses on the walls. During the first days of spring, ventilation should be undertaken very carefully, as the damp atmosphere of that season deposits moisture on the walls of poorly-heated rooms and makes them damp. Heating should, therefore, not be discontinued at the first approach of spring, but should be continued moderately, with an additional thorough ventilation.
Newly-constructed houses are always damp, even when they appear to be dry. The only advantage they possess is that they have not been lived in like old houses. For reasons of health, however, occupancy is advisable only after a certain degree of drying, and then only with careful heating and ventilation in the winter time. When heating new houses, the windows must be kept closed ; the air is renewed by repeatedly opening the windows and doors for a few minutes at a time. While ventilating the rooms a steady heat should be maintained, so that the incoming dampness may be carried off.
Every dwelling-place should have its own closet, which should be furnished with a window for light and air. If several households have one common closet, each family is apt to depend on the next one to keep it clean. Dark closets are not easy to keep clean, and those without windows con taminate the atmosphere of the houses. The most hygienic closets are those with running water. Where such cannot be introduced, earth closets are the next choice ; provided, of course, that earth is really strewn, a process which unfortunately is generally neglected after a time.
When the bathroom is furnished with a gas stove or geyser, this must be fitted with a pipe to carry off the gaseous products of combustion. The lack of such a waste-pipe has frequently caused poisoning (at times fatal) in consequence of the inhalation of the combustion products, even if in other respects the stove was properly cared for.
Even the smallest dwelling-place ought to have one cool closet for the preservation of articles of food. This is especially necessary in the summer time in order to keep boiled milk fresh for the children, as a decomposition of this article of food may have dangerous consequences. See CHOLERA INFANTUM.
The relation between dwelling and disease may exist in various ways. The harmful effect upon the health of the occupants of dwellings which lack air and light, and which are overcrowded and dirty, is so well known that it needs no further elaboration. Children especially suffer under such conditions. The same applies to dampness. Damp walls always cause a feeling of chilliness, because they condense moisture in the rooms and draw warmth from the occupants. This is most harmful when a person is sleeping, as the temperature of the body is then lowered ; and it must be earnestly advised not to place beds close to damp walls. Catarrh and rheumatism are frequent results of living in damp houses, in which the air is generally poor on account of the rotting and mouldering processes con stantly going on. In consequence, wooden furniture warps, dresses get mouldy, and articles of food decompose. The fungi which sometimes appear in damp houses add malodorous elements to the atmosphere, but do not contribute to the causes of disease. There is much hygienic itonsense, however, regarding dampness in dwellings, dampness often not being dis tinguished from lowered temperature.
If there have been dangerous contagious diseases in a house, the patient's room should be disinfected after the disease has run its course, so that the disease-germs will not remain and cause new infections. When moving into a new house it is important to ascertain whether the former occupants were healthy. If there were contagious diseases (consumption, for instance) the house should not be occupied before it has been thoroughly disinfected. It is best also to inquire about the possibility of contagious diseases among the neighbours, and if necessary to keep isolated from them ; special attention should be given to the children, that they do not associate with children living in infected houses. See also the articles, BED ; DISINFECTION ; and LIGHT.