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unhealthy houses may be prevented; the said Act to contain sanitary
provisions as regards the foundation and the prevention of the rise of damp
in the walls; to further enact that all the rooms, staircases and passages,
shall be properly lighted and ventilated,—that all the rooms shall
have sufficient superficial space, and bo not less than 8 feet in height;
that all the necessary conveniences shall be provided separately for each
house, and that each house shall have an open space at its rear It
appears to be a waste of money to pull down unhealthy houses, and, at the
same time, allow others alike unhealthy to be built, which shortly after their
erection, may be condemned as unfit for human habitation.
In building a new class of houses, for the better accommodation of the
working classes, it is in my opinion essentially necessary, as tending not
only to promote their health, but to improve their moral condition, that
every room should be light—that there should be no dark corners for
the accumulation of dirt—and that the houses should not exceed four
storys in height; for, unless the streets are made proportionally wide, the
higher the houses the greater will be the absence of sunlight, and thus
interfere with the proper ventilation of the rooms. High houses on each
side of narrow streets, in which little or no sunlight is admitted, are not
healthy. It is true that the current of air is greater while passing between
rows of high houses, but currents of air, without the accompanying heat of
the sun's rays, cannot be considered as proper ventilation. A currcnt of air
passing through a tunnel may, perhaps by some persons, be considered as
efficient ventilation; but I apprehend that few persons with any regard to
their health, would like to reside therein. I firmly believe that many persons
who are compelled to occupy rooms in which the rays of the sun never
enter soon lose their health, and find it necessary to change their residence;
and this remark applies, although perhaps with less force, to those who are
confined to counting - houses during the day, in which no sunlight is
admitted.
Sunlight is especially necessary for the healthy existence of children;
and this is strongly pointed out in the evidence of the late Mr. N. B.
Ward (the inventor of the "Wardean Cases," for rearing plants in
towns, and conveying them to and from distant places, a gentleman of great
eminence in the medical profession; and who had given much attention to
the influence of the temperature of air and light on the health, and growth
of animals and plants) says, in his evidence before the Commissioners
appointed for inquiry into the state of large towns and populous districts,
that, as the result of his experience, the influence of light is a matter of
the highest importance to the proper physical development of the human
species; and whatever stints the growth of a child, certainly operates upon
his physical capacity for labour; that the amount of disease among persons