nd respect,
else her disposition may become morose and reflect itself upon the
patient, causing peevishness and despondency.

THE SICK-ROOM should be as comfortable, cheerful, and pleasant, as
circumstances will allow. Let the room be large and airy, and furnished
with a stove, or better still, a fireplace. All articles of clothing and
furniture, not necessary to the comfort of the patient, should be
removed from the room, and in _malignant_ or _contagious_ diseases the
carpets, even, should not be permitted to remain. The surroundings beget
happiness or gloom, in proportion as they are pleasant or disagreeable.
A tidy attendant, a few flowers and books, wonderfully enhance the
cheerfulness of the room. Permit no unnecessary accumulation of bottles,
or any thing that can in any way render the room unpleasant. Medicines,
drink, or nourishment should never be left uncovered in the sick-room,
since they quickly absorb the gaseous emanations from the patient, and
become unfit for the purpose which they were intended to serve. Their
presence gives the room an untidy appearance, suggestive of filth and
slovenliness, and imparts to the patient a feeling of loathing and
disgust for articles of diet.

THE BED should not be of feathers, on account of their undue warmth,
which causes a sensation of languor throughout the system. A husk or
sea-grass mattress, or even a straw bed, covered with a cotton quilt, is
far preferable. The bedding should be changed frequently. It is better
that the bed should be away from the wall, so as to admit of greater
freedom of movement about it.

PURE AIR. The air in the sick-room should be kept as pure as possible.
That which is so necessary in health, is indispensable in sickness. The
importance, therefore, of a perfect and free ventilation of the
sick-room cannot be too thoroughly impressed; and yet to properly secure
this end, may call forth a considerable amount of ingenuity on the part
of the nurse. A window should be open, but the current of air must not
be allowed to blow directly upon the patient. One window may be raised
from the bottom and another lowered from the top. This will permit the
entrance of pure air from without, and the exit of the vitiated air from
within. The patient, if sufficiently covered in bed, is not liable to
take cold from a proper ventilation of the room. Especially is this
true, when the bodily temperature is raised by febrile or inflammatory
affections. The _te