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wrong, and yet will have them in living rooms and
tiny kitchens or sculleries for hours together.
Remember and note, that " an ordinary flat flame
gas jet consumes about five times as much oxygen
and produces about three times as much carbonic
acid gas as an adult man. All gas contains a certain
proportion of sulphur, and the sulphuric and sulphurous
acids arising from this may make the air of
a room decidedly unpleasant. If, however, the gas
is fairly purified from bisulphide of carbon, and
particularly if incandescent mantles are used, no
trouble should arise from this source provided the
carbonic acid in the air does not exceed about 20
volumes per 10,000 " (Haldane).
The popularity of the gas cooking stove, or
" cooker," as it is colloquially termed, is enormous ;
I understand that at least 20,000 may be in use in
Birmingham, and besides being found in increasing
numbers in new houses that are being erected it is
being adapted to many of the older ones, and is
likely to increase still further under the stimulus of
the penny-in-the slot system and the terms of hire
offered by the gas companies. It is therefore of
paramount importance that ventilation should be
attended to, and that with an extension of its use a
better knowledge should prevail of the dangers that
may and do exist. The use of the gas stove is to be
deservedly commended for its many advantages, and
also because amongst other things it must in no small
degree tend to lessen the amount of smoke that would
otherwise be pouring from the chimneys of open
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