{"product_id":"the-bedroom-and-boudoir-gb-41922","title":"The Bedroom and Boudoir","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Bedroom and Boudoir\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e[Pg 1]\nIT is only too easy to shock some people, and at the risk of shocking\r\nmany of my readers at the outset, I must declare that very few bedrooms\r\nare so built and furnished as to remain thoroughly sweet, fresh, and\r\nairy all through the night. This is not going so far as others however.\r\nEmerson repeats an assertion he once heard made by Thoreau, the American\r\nso-called Stoic,whose senses by the way seem to have been\r\npreternaturally acutethat by night every dwelling-house gives out a\r\nbad air, like a slaughter-house. As this need not be a necessary\r\nconsequence of sleeping in a room, it remains to be discovered why ones\r\nfirst impulse on entering a bedroom in the morning[Pg 2] should either be to\r\nopen the windows, or to wish the windows were open. Every one knows how\r\noften this is the case, not only in small, low, ill-contrived houses in\r\na town, but even in very spacious dwellings, standing too amid all the\r\nfragrant possibilities of the open country. It is a very easy solution\r\nof the difficulty to say that we ought always to sleep with our windows\r\nwide open. The fact remains that many people cannot do so; it is a\r\nrisknay, a certaintyof illness to some very young children, to many\r\nold people, and to nearly all invalids. In a large room the risk is\r\ndiminished, because there would be a greater distance between the bed\r\nand window, or a space for a sheltering screen. Now, in a small room,\r\nwhere fresh air is still more essential and precious, the chances are\r\nthat the window might open directly on the bed, which would probably\r\nstand in a draught between door and fireplace as well.\nI take it for granted that every one understands the enormous importance\r\nof having a fireplace in each sleeping-room in an English house, for the\r\nsake of the ventilation afforded by the chimney. And even then a sharp\r\nwatch must be kept on the house-maid, who out of pure cussedness (there\r\nis no other word for it) generally makes it the serious business of her\r\nlife to keep the iron flap of the register stove shut down, and so to\r\ndo[Pg 3] away entirely with one of the uses of the chimney. If it be\r\nimpossible to have a fireplace in the sleeping-room, then a ventilator\r\nof some sort should be introduced. There is, I believe, a system in use\r\nin some of the wards of St. Georges Hospital and in the schools under\r\nthe control of the London School Board, known as Tobins Patent.\r\nVentilation is here secured by means of a tube or pipe communicating\r\ndirectly with the outer air, which can thus be brought from that side of\r\nthe building on which the atmosphere is freshest. If report can be\r\ntrusted, this system certainly appears to come nearer to what is wanted\r\nthan any with which we are yet acquainted, for it introduces fresh air\r\nwithout producing a draught, and the supply of air can be regulated by a\r\nlid at the mouth of the pipe. A sort of double-star is often introduced\r\nin a pane of glass in the window, but this is somewhat costly, and it\r\nwould not be difficult to find other simpler and more primitive methods,\r\nfrom a tin shaft or loosened brick in a wall, down to half a dozen large\r\nholes bored by an auger in the panel of the door, six or eight inches\r\naway from the top, though this is only advisable if the door opens upon\r\na tolerably airy landing or passage. If it does not, then resort to some\r\ncontrivance, as cheap as you please, in the outer wall leading[Pg 4] directly\r\ninto the fresh air. In most private houses it is generally possible to\r\narrange for those to whom an open window at night is a forbidden luxury,\r\nthat they should sleep with their door open. A curtain, or screen, or\r\neven the open door itself will ensure the privacy in which we all like\r\nto do our sleeping, but there should then be some window open on an\r\nupper landing, day and night, in all weathers. Believe me, there are few\r\nnights, even in our rigorous climate, where this would be an\r\nimpossibility. Of course common sense must be the guide in laying down\r\nsuch rules. No one would willingly admit a fog or storm of driving wind\r\nand rain into their house, but of a night when the atmosphere is so\r\nexceptionally disturbed it is sure to force its way in at every cranny,\r\nand keep the rooms fresh and sweet without the necessity of admitting a\r\nlarge body of air by an open window.\n\u003cb\u003e ......Buy Now (To Read More)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eProduct details\u003ch3\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eEbook Number\u003c\/b\u003e: 41922 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor\u003c\/b\u003e: Barker, Lady (Mary Anne) \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRelease Date\u003c\/b\u003e: Jan 26, 2013 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat\u003c\/b\u003e: eBook \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage\u003c\/b\u003e: English \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"booksdeli.com","offers":[{"title":"Barker, Lady (Mary Anne),1831-1911 \/ eBook \/ English","offer_id":43221331574941,"sku":"gb-41922-ebook","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0619\/5648\/9373\/products\/41922.jpg?v=1671592002","url":"https:\/\/booksdeli.com\/products\/the-bedroom-and-boudoir-gb-41922","provider":"booksdeli.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}