PREFACE. The absorbing interest manifested in this subject of late was deemed a sufficient reason for republishing these lectures in a more convenient form than was presented in the Magazine. The eminence of the Author, moreover, seemed a guaranty that the work would be regarded as a standard authority on a subject of great public interest. EDITOR OF MAGAZINE. DWELLING HOUSES: Their Sanitary Construction SITUATION AND CONSTRUCTION OF HOUSES. It is only necessary for me to make a few introductory remarks about climate. Although few persons can choose what part of the world they will live in, a considerable number are able to decide in what part of the country they will reside. Other things being equal, the nearer a place is to the sea, the more equable is the climate, and the further inland the place is, the more is the climate one of extremes; so that those who wish for a moist, equable climate, with warm winters and warm nights, will choose a place by the seaside; while those who wish for a more bracing atmosphere will go further inland. In England, too, there is considerable difference, as is well-known, between the climate at various parts of the seaboard. Thus, the western coast, being exposed to the winds which pass over the Atlantic, and to the action of the moist, warm air which passes over the course of the Gulf Stream, has a warm, moist atmosphere, and a heavy rainfall; while the eastern coast, which is swept by winds that have passed across Siberia and Russia, and have only the narrow strip of German Ocean to pass over before they reach our coast, has a dry, bleak, and comparatively cold climate. For the same reason, too, the exposition of a house, or the way in which it faces, is a matter of great importance in this climate, as is well-known; a southern exposition, for example, being warm and genial, whilst an eastern one is just the reverse. In the neighborhood of forests, the air is damp during a great part of the year, from the enormous amount of evaporation that takes place from the leaves of the trees, and Humbolt tells us that the |