h.

The men may, to a certain extent, resist the injurious influences of
foul air; as their employments usually compel them to live much more out
of doors: but alas, alas! for the poor women! In the very land where
women are treated with more universal deference and respect than in any
other, and where they so well deserve it, there often, no provision is
made to furnish them with that great element of health, cheerfulness and
beauty, heaven's pure, fresh air.

In Southern climes, where doors and windows may be safely kept open for
a large part of the year, pure air is cheap enough, and can be obtained
without any special effort: but in Northern latitudes, where heated air
must be used for nearly three-quarters of the year, the neglect of
ventilation is fast causing the health and beauty of our women to
disappear. The pallid cheek, or the hectic flush, the angular form and
distorted spine, the debilitated appearance of a large portion of our
females, which to a stranger, would seem to indicate that they were just
recovering from a long illness, all these indications of the lamentable
absence of physical health, to say nothing of the anxious, care-worn
faces and premature wrinkles, proclaim in sorrowful voices, our
violation of God's physical laws, and the dreadful penalty with which He
visits our transgressions.

Our people must, and I have no doubt that eventually they will be most
thoroughly aroused to the necessity of a vital reform on this important
subject. Open stoves, and cheerful grates and fire-places will again be
in vogue with the mass of the people, unless some better mode of warming
shall be devised, which, at less expense, shall make still more ample
provision for the constant introduction of fresh air. Houses will be
constructed, which, although more expensive in the first cost, will be
far cheaper in the end, and by requiring a much smaller quantity of fuel
to warm the air, will enable us to enjoy the luxury of breathing air
which may be duly tempered, and yet be pure and invigorating. Air-tight
and all other _lung-tight_ stoves will be exploded, as economizing in
fuel only when they allow the smallest possible change of air, and thus
squandering health and endangering life.

The laws very wisely forbid the erection of wooden buildings in large
cities, and in various ways, prescribe such regulations for the
construction of edifices as are deemed to be essential to the public
welfare; and the time can