I pickedup in a second hand bookshop a book on "How To Keep House," by Mrs C S Peel, dated 1902, which contains some comments on health care and prevention of illness, including the importance of your drains, which I thought might be of interest:
"Everyone will agree that it is more important for a house to be sanitary than to be beautiful ... for upon this depends our health, our comfort, and our very lives... No sewgae system has been devised which is not apt to get out of order at some time. Smells are usually the first sign of such derangement, but not invariably so. Sore throats are a furtehr and more unpleasant item of evidence, while blood-poisoning and typhoid are the worst... It is only of late years that it has been fully recognised how much sunlight affects our health, not only by the vigour that it gives to our persons, but by destroying the germs of disease that are everywhere abroad. It is therefore necessary to have as much light in all parts of our houses as possible, and to avoid keeping out the beneficial rays of the sun by heavy curtains and thick window blinds... As with light so also with air... all windows, both in bed and sitting rooms, should be open for as long a time as possible every day... In the case of infectious diseases... proper precautionary measures shpuld be taken to prevent the spread of the disease among the unaffected inmates... Disnifecting after the illness is over is now usually done by the sanitary authority; but all wall-papers in the infected houses must be carefully stripped, and not covered up by new ones... Lastly, it is of the greatest imposrtance to see that the servants are housed among sanitary surroundings; for, having been accustomed to a less hygienic mode of living at home, they are apt to ignore some of the simple but highly important rules of health. Their rooms should be properly ventilated, even against their will, and it should be seen to that their quarters are kept as clean, dry, light and fresh as the other portions of the house." At the end among the advertisements for other books is one entitled "From Cradle To School", by Mrs Ada S Ballin, which is described as "An indepensable manual for mothers, dealing with questions of their own health and the health management and up-bringing of their children." It dealt with subjects including vaccination and sickness, and quoted reviews call it "quite a blessing to mothers", and say "No mother and no nurse should be without it". Lisa S -- ________________________________________ Girlsown mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] For self-administration and access to archives see http://home.it.net.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/girlsown For FAQs see http://www.club-web.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/girlsown/faq-0.htm