One of the first things to be considered in the choice of a residence is the healthfulness of the position. In the country, the vicinity of low grounds or the banks of. a sluggish river are to be avoided. A house having a wet cellar is never a safe residence for a family. Neuralgia, fevers, and consumption are produced by living in a damp house. A house having a southern exposure is much to be preferred to one where the windows of the rooms most occupied are toward the north. The light of the sun is essential to health; and, in selecting a house in the city, this is of even greater importance than in the country.

Sleeping-Rooms

Few persons will take cold, even in winter, from sleeping with a window open a few inches, provided there is enough bed-clothing, and the bed so placed that a current of air will not blow on the sleeper. The air of a closed room, re-breathed through the night by two persons, becomes poisonous. No wonder if they rise in the morning languid, feverish, and without appetite for breakfast. Here is one great cause of the mortality in the crowded parts of our cities.

Ventilation

should be mentioned in connection with this subject. The old-fashioned fire-place and open chimney were more favorable to health than our modern stoves, grates, and furnaces. A family-sitting room, or nursery, warmed by an air-tight stove, should be well aired by opening the windows several times a day, even in very cold weather. Double windows are comfortable in winter, but they should be so constructed as to allow a frequent change of air in the room. Every part of a house warmed by a furnace should be thoroughly aired every day.