ilation,
invite disease and infirmity, from the very pains they so unwittingly
take to ward off such afflictions.

A man, be he farmer or of other profession, finding himself prosperous
in life, sets about the very sensible business of building a house for
his own accommodation. Looking back, perhaps, to the days of his
boyhood, in a severe climate, he remembers the not very highly-finished
tenement of his father, and the wide, open fireplace which, with its
well piled logs, was scarcely able to warm the large living-room, where
the family were wont to huddle in winter. He possibly remembers, with
shivering sympathy, the sprinkling of snow which he was accustomed to
find upon his bed as he awaked in the morning, that had found its way
through the frail casing of his chamber window--but in the midst of all
which he grew up with a vigorous constitution, a strong arm, and a
determined spirit. He is resolved that _his_ children shall encounter no
such hardships, and that himself and his excellent helpmate shall suffer
no such inconvenience as his own parents had done, who now perhaps, are
enjoying a strong and serene old age, in their old-fashioned, yet to
them not uncomfortable tenement. He therefore determines to have a snug,
_close_ house, where the cold cannot penetrate. He employs all his
ingenuity to make every joint an air-tight fit; the doors must swing to
an air-tight joint; the windows set into air-tight frames; and to
perfect the catalogue of his comforts, an air-tight stove is introduced
into every occupied room which, perchance, if he can afford it, are
further warmed and poisoned by the heated flues of an air-tight furnace
in his air-tight cellar. In short, it is an air-tight concern
throughout. His family breathe an air-tight atmosphere; they eat their
food cooked in an "air-tight kitchen witch," of the latest "premium
pattern;" and thus they start, father, mother, children, all on the high
road--if persisted in--to a galloping consumption, which sooner or later
conducts them to an air-tight dwelling, not soon to be changed. If such
melancholy catastrophe be avoided, colds, catarrhs, headaches, and all
sorts of bodily afflictions shortly make their appearance, and they
wonder what is the matter! They live so snug! their house is so warm!
they sleep so comfortable! how can it be? True, in the morning the air
of their sleeping-rooms feels close, but then if a window is opened it
will chill the rooms, and that w