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in dwellings,— defects wliich affect most that class who have
nothing but toil for an inheritance, who have few means of
counteracting noxious influences arising in their houses by
good living, and by invigorating their health so as to enable
them to resist morbid influences of impure air, by occasional
change of scene.
Familiarity with filth degrades the individual; so also in a
degree scarcely inferior to it, does the breathing a tainted
atmosphere; and wherever foul air and dirty dwellings are
found, there also is constant, an agent perhaps more directly
destructive than either, to both moral and physical human
nature,—drunkenness. Although the disorderly management
of a home is frequently, and with reason, considered a
consequence of intemperance in inebriating drinks, yet it is
equally certain that the vicious habit is often acquired by
the apparent necessity for stimulants caused by the debility
and lassitude which is produced on the system by breathing
an atmosphere constantly charged with impurities. There
can be no doubt but that these are the most evident as
well as the most productive causes of disease ; and while
visible nuisances, and those recognised by smell, have
received much attention from all who are engaged in the
laudable work of improving the public health, it is not a
little surprising that so fruitful a source of impurity as is
found in the imperfect ventilation of small dwellings, should
be either deemed unimportant, or have received insufficient
attention, particularly when the means of correction are, in
most instances simple, practicable, and inexpensive. To
diminish mortality to its fullest extent, it is not sufficient to
stop the ravages of pestilental disease, by cleansing, lime
washing, and other modes for purification. Common
humanity could not be satisfied with less ; but we have a