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74
This list excludes 15 cases in common lodging houses. Only
102 patients out of 421 were able to have a bed and bedroom all
to themselves.
In the other households, where only one bed was available, 431
persons slept in the same bed with the consumptives, and were
consequently exposed to infection. This number refers to those
families which only possessed one bed. In addition to these
there were 380 persons who occupied the same bedroom as a
phthisical patient, and in some instances the same bed. Four
bedrooms had no fireplace, so that ventilation in them was absent
or impossible. Fifty-one bedrooms were dark, and had insufficient
light.
The ventilation was insufficient in 36 other bedrooms, making
a total of 40 bedrooms, or 9 per cent, of the whole number.
The defective ventilation and absence of ventilation greatly
facilitate the spread of the disease. It is difficult sometimes to
suggest means by which it may be overcome—occasionally owners
have been induced to place gratings in the walls. Unfortunately,
even when they have been provided, the occupants have been
known to stuff the apertures with rags and thus render these
gratings useless. The absence of fireplaces bespeaks very bad
housing—in some instances these rooms without fireplaces were
originally attached to the tenements as lumber rooms, or as odd
rooms for storage purposes. They were not built for occupation
as living or as sleeping-rooms. It is extremely important that
every room used for human habitation should have a fireplace or
means of communication with the outer air in addition to the
window frajne.
Fifteen bedrooms had dirty walls and ceilings, 6 were damp.
In 8 instances the walls and bedding were verminous. In 12
bedrooms the bedding was fouled with the patient's sputum:, in
9 the bedroom utensils were contaminated, in another 8 the
patients had been spitting broadcast and had bes patted the floors
and walls. In 6 homes the bedding was excessively filthy, grimy,
and in parts almost caked with dirt and mucus.