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CLIMATE AND HEALTH
IN
HOT COUNTRIES
AND
THE OUTLINES OF TROPICAL CLIMATOLOGY
_A Popular Treatise on Personal Hygiene in the Hotter Parts
of the World, and on the Climates that will be
met with within them_
BY
LIEUT.-COL. G. M. GILES, M.B., F.R.C.S.
_Indian Medical Service (Retd.)_
AUTHOR OF
“A HANDBOOK OF THE GNATS OR MOSQUITOES,” “KALA AZAR,” AND
“BERI-BERI,” &C., &C.
NEW YORK
WILLIAM WOOD AND COMPANY
MDCCCCV
INTRODUCTION.
A hundred years ago a prolonged residence in the Tropics was regarded
with well-founded horror. The best the white settler in the lands of the
sun dared hope for was “a short life and a merry one,” but too often the
merriment was sadly lacking.
When Clive’s father made interest to get his son a writership under “Old
John Company,” and packed off the troublesome lad to India, he probably
regarded it as a last resource, and felt much as if he had signed the
youth’s doom; but an age that hanged for sheep-stealing, or less, was
like to be stern in its dealings with its children.
We know now that what the father took for vice was but evidence of the
superabundant vitality of a genius, and being one, Clive naturally
possessed the originality to modify his habits to his new surroundings,
and so survived to become an Empire-builder and hero. Nor was the case
exceptional, for looking back on the history of our great Indian
dependency, one cannot fail to be struck with the high average ability
of the few who survived to attain leading positions.
Furlough to Europe was almost impossible, and the hills were unknown,
but in spite of this, many of these seasoned veterans who had learned
their lesson lived, in the land of their adoption, to a green old age.
But the rank and file, who could not or would not learn, died off like
rotten sheep; and to this day it is the young and inexperienced, who
have as yet not learned to adapt and protect themselves, who fall the
readiest victims. At home it is, I believe, generally recognised that at
the age of 26 a man is rather past his best from the athletic point of
view, and it is hardly to be supposed that he is not equally at his
fittest before that age, simply because he has shifted his domicile a
couple of thousand miles to the south; but so fatal is the want of
caution and intolerance of precaution inherent in early manhood, that
most authorities recommend that, if possible, emigration to a hot
climate should be postponed till the age of 25. This obstinate
determination to carry to tropical parts habits of life suitable only to
the more temperate parts of Europe was carried in old times to an almost
incredible extent.
Now and again, in the guest-chamber of some native noble’s house, one
may come across quaint old paintings and engravings which show our great
grandfathers fighting or playing cricket in exactly the same costume as
their contemporaries at home. No alteration whatever was made in the
soldier’s dress, and his officers duelled, drank, and gambled in the
same old Ramillies wigs that led such portentous gravity to those
charming discussions with the enemy as to who should “fire first.” Even
the earlier files of the _Illustrated London News_ show the same things,
and looking at these old pictures, the wonder is not so much that many
succumbed as that any survived. Even in Europe the conditions of
military service were terribly unhealthy, and when transplanted to the
Tropics the mortality was such as to give to India and other hot
countries an evil reputation which they have not yet lived down.
The dire struggle of the Indian Mutiny led to the first attempts to
clothe and treat the soldier in a somewhat more rational fashion, and
since then great improvements have been effected; but a great deal more
remains to be done, especially in the matter of utilising our recently
gained knowledge of the causation of malaria, before our military
statistics can be expected to show how little this evil reputation is
due to the climate itself, and how much has really been caused by human
misdirection. No amount of sanitary improvement can be expected to
render Bombay a comfortable place of residence in the dog days, and
apart from localities at considerable elevations, where the climate is
really temperate, it is hopeless to expect that anything in the way of
actual colonisation can succeed in the climates with which we are
dealing; but with due care and attention to sanitary laws, as modified
by the altered conditions, there is no reason why the rates of sickness
and mortality should be much more formidable than elsewhere.
In the following pages the writer has endeavoured to put into popular
form the principal points of personal hygiene as applied to hot
countries, and as they are intended mainly for the non-professional
reader, all technical terms have been, as far as possible, avoided, and
words in popular use, such as germs, &c., have been substituted for the
more exact nomenclature of science. Should any of his medical colleagues
care to read a merely popular work, they can easily supply for
themselves, in place of these vague, popular words, the more precise
terminology in use amongst ourselves.
The climates of the hotter parts of the world vary even more widely than
those of the temperate zone, so that it is often impossible to offer
suggestions applicable to all of them; and on this account it is
extremely important that the intending resident or visitor to them
should be able to ascertain what is the exact nature of the climatic
conditions with which he will have to cope, so that it is absolutely
essential to include within the scope of a work like the present some
account of the climates of the various countries included in the
enormous area under consideration. On this account the little book has
been divided into two distinct parts, the first of which is devoted to
personal tropical hygiene, while the second, which deals with climate,
is necessarily mainly a dry mass of tabulated information, of which only
the few pages devoted to the country he proposes to visit is likely to
interest the individual reader.
The inclusion of information of the sort is, however, quite essential,
as it is by no means easily accessible, and, as a matter of fact,
scarcely exists, except in the form of the official records of the
various meteorological observatories, so that when collecting data for
the compilation of this second part, or appendix, on tropical climates,
the writer was a good deal surprised to find that he was engaged in the
preparation of what is really a pioneer work on the subject in the
English language.
This being the case, it has been thought well to publish these outlines
of tropical climatology also in a separate form for the use of the
professional reader who may not care to be burdened with a booklet on
health treated from the popular point of view; a step which has further
necessitated that the paging and indexing of the two parts should be
kept separate from each other, a plan which, in view of the moderate
dimensions of the book, might otherwise have appeared rather
superfluous.
LIST OF DRUGS, &c., MENTIONED IN THE TEXT.
_Bicarbonate of soda._
_Bismuthi salicyl._, in tabuloids of grains x. each.
_Book of litmus_ paper.
_Boracic acid_, in powder.
_Calomel_, in tabuloids of ¹⁄₂ grain each.
_Carbolic acid_, with sufficient glycerine added to keep it in a fluid
condition.
_Castor oil._
_Castor oil with resorcin_:--
℞ Ol. ricini ℥viii.
Resorcin ʒii.
Mix, and dissolve the resorcin by standing the bottle in hot water.
_Citrate of potash._
_Easton’s syrup_, put up in a bottle marked to its dosage.
_Ether sulphuric._ This drug is too volatile for storage in the
ordinary way in the Tropics and so should be put up in glass capsules
each holding a drachm.
_“Fever” or diaphoretic mixture_:--
℞ Liq. ammon. acetatis fortior, B.P., 1885 ʒss.
Sp. eth. nitrosi ♏xx.
Potas. nitratis gr. i.
Water to ʒii for each dose.
Dose.--To be put up in a bottle graduated to that dosage containing 8
oz. of the mixture, and taken diluted with four or five times its
quantity of water.
_Goa ointment_:--
Goa powder } āā ʒss.
Acid salicylic }
Lanolin ad ℥i.
_Gregory’s powder._
_Hydrochloric acid_, preferably in the dilute form.
_Opium_, in tabuloids of 1 grain each.
The “Patna” drug is preferable as a sedative before the administration
of ipecacuanha.
_Paint for “Dhobi’s itch”_:--
Liquor iodi fortior }
Pure carbolic acid } _partes æquales ad_ ℥ii.
Glycerine }
_Perchloride of mercury_, in tabuloids:--
¹⁄₄₀ grain } for internal administration.
¹⁄₆₄ grain }
2¹⁄₂ grain “soloids” for compounding an antiseptic solution.
_Permanganate of potash_, put up in packets of 2 oz. each, wrapped in
waterproof paper, for disinfecting wells.
_Phenacetin_; tabuloids of grains v. each.
_Phenyle_, “Little’s soluble.”
_Pills for hill diarrhœa_ and similar disturbances of the bowel:--
℞ Euonymini }
Pil. hydrargyri } āā grain i.
Pulv. ipecac. }
_Pulv. hydrargyri cum creta_, popularly known as grey powder.
_Pulv. ipecacuanhæ_, in tabuloids of 5 grains each.
_Quinine sulphate_ (or hydrochloride) _in powder_. The cork should be
fitted with a small wooden cup, to measure 5 grains approximately.
_Resorcin_, in tabuloids of grains v. each.
_Thymol_, in tabuloids of grains x. each.
_Tinct. camphoræ composita_, popularly known as “paregoric elixir.”
INDEX TO PART I., CLIMATE AND HEALTH IN HOT COUNTRIES.
[_For Index to Part II., “Outlines of Tropical Climatology,” see end of
volume._]
Abdominal chills, danger of, and methods of protection from, 28, 32,
144-146, 149; infantile, 153
Aerated waters--
Cholera, safety of drinking, in outbreak of, 136; manufacture of,
neglect of necessary precautions in, 45-47; home manufacture of,
47-48
Africa, _Bilharzia_ prevalent in, 184
Africa, South--
Camping out in, 83
Clothing in, 25; suitable head-dress, 170
Sleeping sickness of, 164, 165
Sunstroke rare in, 166
mentioned, 113
Air, disinfecting powers of, 162
Aladdin’s Palace, 8
Alcohol, 62, 147
Allahabad, water supply of, 37
Alum--
Drinking water purified by, 43, 137, 138
Injuriousness of, in baking powder, 59
Rice, cooking of, used in, 60-61
America--
Head-dress in, 29, 171
North, mosquitoes in, 101
“American” cotton drill--
Tent manufacture, for, 85
Unsuitability of, for hot climates, 26
“Anglo-Indian gauze,” 23
Animals infected by plague, 156; sacredness of, in India, 156
Ankles, protection of, against mosquito bites, 117
_Anopheles_ mosquitoes--
Characteristics of, 102-104
Eggs of, figure of, 95
Larvæ of, 4, 97-99
Nets protecting against, 124
Antipyrin, use of, in malaria, 128
Ants, white, 6, 14, 18
Apples, avoidance of, during hot weather, 58
Assam, 182; plan of houses in, 5; protection against leeches in
riding, 29
Asses’ milk for feeding infants, 50, 152-153
Australia--
Bladder worm disease in, 184
Head covering in, 29
Tape worm parasites in meat in, 55
Bacon fat, nutritive value of, 79
Baids, or native doctors, 126
Baking powders, ingredients of, 59
Bamboo matting, use of, for building purposes, 5
Bancroft, Dr., 100
Barracks in India, advisability of protecting against mosquitoes, 122
Basel Mission, Cannanore, fabrics manufactured by, 27, 28
Beef tea, 62
Bengali, 14, 145
Benger’s food, 149, 154
Bhindi, the, 58
_Bhisti_ (Mahomedan water carriers) unclean methods of, 38-39;
character of, 39-40
Bhraman, 138
Bile, functions of, and relation to dysentery, 143
_Bilharzia_, 184
Bismuth, salicylate of, administration of, in infantile diarrhœa, 151
Blackwater fever, 127
Bladder worm, 183-184
Blood-worm disease, 90, 93, 97, 183
Blue pill, 150
Boer felt hats, 170-171
Boils--
Perchloride of mercury lotion a preventive against, 178
Prickly heat as sequelæ of, 177
Bombay, 12
Bottle feeding of infants, danger of, in the tropics, 151
Brand’s extract, 142
Bread, 59
_British Medical Journal_ cited, 74
Buffalo milk, butter made from, 52
Bugs, 115
Bungalow, Indian, _see under_ India.
Burglars, precautions against, 68-69
Burmah, 114; plan of houses in, 5; protection against leeches in
riding, 29
Bushire, Subsabad Residency at, 8
Butter, danger of germs in, 51-52; making at home, 52; buffalo milk
for, 52; tinned, 52
Calcutta, 12, 65, 123
Calomel, administration of, in heatstroke, 176
Campagna, Italian, 119
Camps, choice of site for, 87; difficulties as to conservancy, 87-88;
water supply for, 88
Canal irrigation--
Dangers of, 109
Officials of, Government, protection of houses of, against
mosquitoes, suggested, 122
Cancer, 109
Cannanore, Basel Mission at, fabrics manufactured by, 27, 28
Cape Colony--
Sunstroke in, rarity of, 29
Tape-worm parasites in meat at, 55
Ticks, protection against, in riding, 28
Carbonic acid--
Action of, on cholera germs, 48, 133
Compressed, supply of, in steel cylinders, 47
Castor oil, administration of, in malaria, 127-128; in dysentery, 147;
in infantile diarrhœa, 151, 154
Castor oil shrub, antipathy of mosquitoes to, 116
Cawnpore--
Tent manufacture at, 84
“Twilled lining” manufactured at, 27
Water supply of, 37
“Cawnpore tent club hat,” 30, 169
Ceilings, lath and plaster, non-employment of, in India, 17
Ceiling cloths, defects of, 16-17
Celli, Prof. A., plan of, for wire gauze protection against
mosquitoes, 118-121
Centipedes, 22, 115
Cgaleka campaign, 57
_Chang_ houses, 5-6
Charcoal, properties of, as fuel for cooking purposes, 64
Cheese, 52-53, 79
Children in the Tropics--
Clothing of, 33-34, 117
Feeding of, 76 _et seq._
Hill stations, advisability of sending to, 79-81
House accommodation of, 6, 10
Infants, _see that title_
Treatment of, 81-82, 171
China, washing of clothes in, 24
Chittagong--
Health of European residents in, 2
Houses in, 2
Chloral hydrate, subcutaneous injection of, in cholera cases, 141
Chlorodyne, danger of, in dysentery, 146
Cholera--
Contraction of, through food fouled by flies, 48
Conveyance of, 35-36
Discharges in, infection from, 142
Germ of, destruction of, in wells, 42; prolonged action of CO₂, on,
48; conditions of development of, 132; killing, by boiling water,
133
Infection, risk of, 132, 140, 142
Melons causing, popular fallacy as to, 58-59
Nursing of cases, precautions to be taken in, 140
Preventive measures against, 134-139
Symptoms of, 140-141
Treatment, 141-142
“Cholera belt,” 144, 145
Chrysanthemum, unopened flowers of, mosquitoes destroyed by burning,
114
Clay, beaten, as roofing material, 18
Clerestory windows, 8
Climate, influence of, in development of mosquitoes, 99
Clothing in the Tropics--
Children, of, 33-34
European, 25
Evening dress in India, 28; arranging, to protect against
mosquitoes, 117-118
Foot-wear, 31-32
Head-dress, suitable, 29-30
Principles of, 22
Protection against mosquitoes, arranging as, 117-118
Riding dress, 28-29
Starched materials, unsuitability of, for hot climates, 26
Underclothes, 22-23, 27-28
Washing of, 23-25
Women’s, 33
Cod-liver oil, 79
Cold baths, 67-68
“Comforters,” baby’s, danger of, 74
Conservancy--
Difficulties as to, in camp life, 87-88
Oriental plans of, 134; round worm disease due to lack of, 182
Constipation, danger of, in tropical climates, 175
Consumption, 74, 109
Cooking, need for, and economy of good cooking, 62-63
Cork as material for hats in India, 169
Cornices, 15
Corsets, inappropriateness of, in hot climates, 33
Corrugated iron as roofing material, 6, 17-18
Cows--
Condition of, in Indian villages, 50
Milk, drawback of, as infants’ food in India, 153
Cucumbers, 58, 136
_Culex_--
Breathing arrangements of, 96
Characteristics of, 102-103
Eggs of, figure of, 95
Larvæ of, 98
“Culinary Jottings from Madras” (Wyvern), 54; _quoted_, 55
Curry as food for children, 76
Daniels _cited_, 95
“Dhobi’s itch,” 24, 178-179
Diarrhœa--
Hill, 149-150
Infantile, 150-155
Relation to dysentery, 149
Tomato skin, due to, 58
Diet in dysentery, 148-149
Digestion, partial suspension of, in malaria, 127-128
Dill water, undesirability of administering, to infants, 74-75
Dog, bladder worm in, 183-184
Drainage, surface, plan to be followed near houses, 4
Dress, _see_ Clothing
Drinking-water, _see_ Water
“Dungaree” material, 26
Dysentery--
Causation of, 33, 143, 141
Characteristics of, 142-143
Conveyance of, 35
Germ of, 142
Pathology of, 143
Relation to diarrhœa, 149
Treatment, 146-149
Dyspepsia, 35
Egg albumen--
Infants, feeding, with, 154
Meat extracts, in, 61-62 _and notes_
Eggs, 56
Egypt--
_Bilharzia_ prevalent in, 184
Head covering in, 29
“Elgin” helmet, 169
“Equatorial Rowing Club,” 25
Eucalyptus plant, antipathy of mosquitoes to, 116
Euonymin, 150
Europeans in tropical climates, immunity of, from native diseases, 180
Fainting, 167-168
Feet, swelling of, in hot countries, 32; footwear in the Tropics,
31-32
Felt for hats in India, 169
“Fever mixture,” 128
“Field officer’s Kabul” tent, 85
Filariasis, 93, 183
Filters, danger of ordinary form of, 135
Fish as food in hot climates, 56; tinned, 61; killed by mosquitoes, 94
Fisher. Dr. T., _cited_, 74
Flannel, wearing, next the skin, 22-23
Fleas, 94, 115
Flies--
Danger of, to food supplies, 48
Method of freeing tents from, 86-87; of freeing houses, 115
Ophthalmia introduced through, 34
Sleeping sickness, concerned in, 164-165
Flukes, 184
Foods (for particular foods, _see_ their names, as milk, bread, meat,
&c.)
Bad, consequence of, 35
Changes in, producing infantile diarrhœa, 150, 151
Cooking of, disease germs destroyed by, 48
Dealing with, precautions necessary, 48-49; unclean methods of
natives, 51, 59
Infants, of, rapid deterioration of, in tropical countries, 150
Tinned, 61-62
Forest officials, government protection of houses of, suggested, 122
Fruit, 58-59; tinned fruits, 61
Gardens, danger of, in malarious places, 2-3, 109; watering of, in
India, 109-112
Gauze, metallic, protection of houses by means of, 68-69, 118-123, 166
Gauze bags, mosquitoes destroyed in, 113
_Ghi_, 111
Gnats, _see_ mosquitoes
“Gnats or mosquitoes,” 114
Goa powder, application of, in Dhobi’s itch, 179
Goat’s milk for feeding infants, 152-153
Gram, tops of, as a substitute for spinach, 57
_Graphic_, 170
Grassi, Prof., 90
Gregory’s powder, administration of, in infantile diarrhœa, 151, 154
Guinea worm, 183
Haffkine’s plague protective emulsion, 160
Hands, swelling of, in hot climates, 32
Hankin, 131, 137
Haqims, or “native doctors,” 126
Heat stroke, 174-176
Hill diarrhœa, 149-150
Hill stations--
Children, advisability of sending, to, 79-81
Sickness in, prevalence of, 81
Himalayas, prevalence of diarrhœa in, 149
Hindu repugnance for meat, 60
Hindu _kahar_, reasons for employment of, 38-39
Honduras, plan of houses in, 5
Hookworm, 181-182
Hornets, 115
Horse sickness, prevention of, Mr. Power’s experiments, 113
Hospitals, plague, 160
Houses in tropical countries--
_Chang_ houses, 5-6
Cooling, after heat of the day, methods of, 69-70
Flooring, materials suitable for, 15
Indian bungalow, ground plan of, showing well placed doors and
windows, 7; sketch of common type, 10; plan showing adaptation of
Celli method of wire gauze protection, 121, 122
Light, question of, 9-10, 60, 69
Materials appropriate for building, 14-15
Plan, suggested, for house of moderate dimensions, 20-21
Plinth, construction of, 3-5
Principles of building, epitome of, 19-20
Roofing materials, 15-18
Rooms, height of, necessary, 11-12
Site, suitable, choice of, 1-3
Storeys, number of, desirable, 4-5, 12
Ventilation of, 6-9, 13, 68-69
Verandahs, function of and building of, 10-11
Wire gauze protection of openings, method of, 118-123, 166
Hutchison, Robert, M.D., on “Patented Food and Patent Medicines,”
_quoted_, 61-62, _notes_
Hydrochloric acid, 161
_Illustrated London News_, 170
Incense, mosquitoes driven from houses by burning, 114
India (_see also_ names of places)--
Animal life in, sacredness of, 156
Bhistis, the, character of, 39-40
Bungalows in, ground plan of, showing doors and windows well placed,
7; sketch of common type of, 10; plan of, showing Celli method of
wire gauze protection, 121, 122
Calls, hours for paying, 172
Children in, reason for frequent feebleness of, 10
Clothing in (_see also title_ Clothing)--
Evening dress, 28, 117, 118
Tussur serge outer garments, 29
Cotton fabrics manufactured in, 27
Gardens, method of watering, 109-112
Head-dress, suitable, in, 29, 169-173
Houses in, non-employment of lath and plaster ceilings in, 17
Infants in, 73
Kitchens in, appliances for and superintendence of, 63-64
Meat in, tape-worm parasite found in, 55
“Mutton Clubs,” 54
Natives, tact required for management of, 158-162
Outfit for, obtaining, in England, 26
Plague in, 155 _et seq._
Prisons, medical officers of, 148
Sleeping sickness, fly concerned in, found in, 165
Swimming baths in, disuse of, 67
Tent life in, 83-88
Tent making industry in, 84
Washing of clothes in, 24
Water supply--
Carriers, Mahomedan and Hindu, methods of, 38-39
Precautions to ensure purity, _see under_ Wells
Infants--
“Comforters,” dangers of, 74
Death-rate high in Tropical Climates, 150
Diarrhœa among, 150-155
Dill water, danger of, to, 74-75
Disorders of, treatment of, 74-5
Feeding of, 75-76, 150-154
Fresh air, need for, 73-74
Hot climates for, advantages of, 73
Milk for, 50; on voyages, 51
“Infants’ Food,” 74, 75
Inoculations, protective, against plague, 158, 160
Insect pests, destruction of, 115
Internal worms, 179 _et seq._
Ipecacuanha, administration of, in dysentery, 147-148; in diarrhœa,
150
Ismailia, malaria at, 107
Italy--
Children of, diet of, 79
Malaria in, prevention of, 118-119
Mosquitoes in, survival of larvæ of, during winter months, 100
Villas in, “ideal models for tropical climates,” 113
Jæger materials, 23
Jellies, disease germs cultivated in, 43
Jungle, avoidance of, in choice of dwelling site, 2
“Kabul Tent,” 85
“Kamarband,” 144-145
Kidneys--
Function of, suspended in cholera attacks, 141
Strain on, from excessive meat eating, 60
Kitchens, Indian, appliances for and superintendence of, 63-64
Koch, 131
“La Martinière,” Lucknow, 80
Lablab bean, 57
Lahore, tent manufacture at, 84
Lamb, unsatisfactoriness of, in hot countries, 54
Larvæ, wintering, breeding of, 101
Laurence Military Asylum, 80
Laveran, malaria research work of, 90
Lentils, 60
Lettuces, avoidance of, during cholera outbreaks, 135
Light--
Disinfecting powers of, 162
Exclusion of, in tropical houses, 9-10
Plague germs destroyed by, 156
Protection against mosquitoes, as, 100-101, 116-117
Lime, clearing of water supplies by, 43, 137, 138
Lime not to be used in combination with perchloride of mercury, 162
_Liquor ammoniæ acetatis_, administration of, in malaria, 128
Liver functions, disturbance of, in dysentery, 143, 146
_Lobán_, 114
London, business hours in, 65
Lucknow--
Historical residency ruins at, 14
“La Martinière,” 80
Water supply of, 37
_Lumbrici_, 180
Macaroni and cheese, children’s dietary, in, 79
Maclean, Prof., _cited_, 89-90
Madras, 64
Mahomedan countries, water carrying in, 38
Maize cobs, mosquitoes driven out of houses by burning, 114
Malaria--
Causation, early theories and research work as to, 89-91
Cold baths, relapse induced by, 67-68
Parasite of, life history of, 91-92, 105-106
Prevention of, 28, 106 _et seq._
Quinine, value of, in treating, 104, 125-129
Seasonal prevalence of, 104, 105
Site of houses in reference to, 1-3
Spread of, danger of single case in helping, 104-105, 125
Temperature, influence of, in development of, 92
Treatment of, 125-129
Malay, house materials in, 14
Malay Archipelago, 114
Manson, Sir Patrick (F.R.S.), research work as to malaria causation,
90
_Mashak_, 38-39
Massage in relief of cholera cramps, 141
Meat (_see also_ mutton, veal, &c.)
Cooking, need for thoroughness in, 55-56
Extracts, nutritive value of, 61, _and note_, 62
Hanging of, 54
Indian “mutton clubs,” 53-54
Preservation of, by sulphur fumes, 55
Quality of, obtainable in hot countries, 53-4
Tinned, 61
Meat juice, feeding infants with, 154
Melons, 53, 59, 136
Mercury, perchloride of, administration of, in dysentery, 147, 148;
in infantile diarrhœa, 151; lotion, application of, in prickly heat,
178
Mexican _sombrero_, 171
“Miasma,” 89
Midges, mosquitoes distinguished from, 93
Milk--
Asses’, for feeding infants, 50, 152-3
Boiled, digestibility of, 49-50
Children’s diet, in, 77
Cholera conveyed by, 132
Cows’, as food for infants in India, 50, 75, 153; sterilisation of,
and need for, native ignorance and frauds as to, &c., 49, 51
Disease transmitted by, 49
Dysentery, in, 146, 149
Goats’, as food for infants, 50, 75-76, 152-153
Puddings of, disease germs cultivated in, 48
Quality of, testing, 51
Sterilisation of, 49
Minced food for children, 77-78
“Moon-blindness,” 13
Mosquitoes--
_Anopheles_, _see that title_
Biting animals, method of, 94
Breeding, situations favouring, 101-102
_Culex_, _see that title_
Danger of encouraging, near dwellings, 2-3
Disease carriers, as, 22, 93
Eggs, depositing of, 94-95; diagram of various forms of, 95
Food of, distinction between male and female as to, 94
Geographical distribution of, 101
Habits of, 93-94
Larval existence, duration of period of, 98, 99
Life history of, 94 _et seq._
Light and heat, tolerance of, 100-101, 116, 117
Malaria, relation to, 90, 92, 93
Midges distinguished from, 93
_Myzorrhynchus sinensis_, figure of larvæ of, 97
Nets, patterns of, 87, 123-125
_Panoplites_, figure of eggs of, 95
Perpetuation of the species, maintenance of, during winter months,
99-100
Protection against--
Breeding places, destruction of, 108-112
Dress, modifying, as a protection, 117-118
Gauze bags, by means of, 115
Houses, precautions to be taken in, 113-115
Italian method of protecting houses, 118-123
Light--a protective agent, 100-101, 116-117
Ointments, &c., by means of, 116
Rainy season, prevalence during, 102, 104, 125
_Stegomyia_, _see that title_
Travelling, incapability of, 100
Mutton, 54
_Myzorrhynchus sinensis_, figure of larva of, 97
Naini Thal, water supply of, 37
Naphthol β, administration of, in infantile diarrhœa, 151
Natal, head covering in, 29
Natives of tropical countries, unclean habits of, 63-64, 181
_Neem_ tree, leaves of, mosquitoes destroyed by burning, 114
Negroes, 145
Nettle-rash, 77
Nuttall _cited_, 95
Oatmeal porridge, 79
Onions, 58
Ophthalmia, protection of children from, 34
Opium, administration of, in dysentery, 146, 148
“Pandemic waves,” 131
_Panoplites_, diagram of eggs of, 95
Paraffin, use of, in destroying mosquitoes, 108, 110-112
Paregoric, administration of, in infantile diarrhœa, 151
“Patent Foods and Patent Medicines,” Robert Hutchison, M.D., _quoted_,
61-62, _notes_
Persia--
Ankle boots in, 31
Houses, system of ventilation of, 8-9; ground plan of European
Bungalow, 9; double verandahs for, 11
Persian Gulf, clothing in, 25
Phenacetin, use of, in malaria, 128
Phenyl for disinfecting against plague, 161
Pith, suitability of, for Indian sun hats, 29
Plague--
Animals affected by, 156, 157
Conditions favouring spread of, 155-156
Evacuation of infected sites, 159-160
Infection from, 157, 163
Low civilisation, a disease of, 155
Prophylaxis against, personal, 156-157; public, 157 _et seq._
_Pomfret_, Bombay, 56
Pork, ptomaine poisoning due to, in hot countries, 54
Potassium, permanganate of, water supplies purified by, 42, 137, 138,
139
Poultry, fattening of, in hot countries, 54
Power, Mr., 113
Prickly heat, 23, 34, 66, 177-179
Protective cordons, value of, in plague outbreak, 161
Ptomaine poisoning from eating pork, 54
Pugaree, 30
Pulses, food value of, 59-60
Pumpkins, 58
Punjab--
Houses in, plan of building, 9; sketch of common type of bungalow,
10; materials of native dwellings, 14
Northern, clothing in, 25
mentioned, 6
Punkahs--
Combining use of, with that of mosquito net, 123-124
Height of rooms giving adequate swing for, 11-12
Protection against mosquitoes afforded by, 123
Pulling, art of, 71
“Puttialla” breeches, 28-29
Pyjamas--danger of short coat, 28
Quarantine, value of, in plague outbreaks, 161
Quicklime, drinking water purified by, 137, 138
Quinine--
Disinfectant action of, 125-126
Malaria, in treatment of, 101, 125-129
Rain water, bathing in, for prickly heat, 177-178
Rainy seasons, prevalence of mosquitoes during, 102, 104, 125
Rajputana, 6
Rats attacked by plague, 156, 157; destruction of, as a protective
measure in plague outbreaks, 160-161
Resorcin, administration of, in infantile “wind” attacks, 75; in
diarrhœa, 151; in dysentery, 147
Rheumatism, 109
Rice, cooking of, 60-61
Rodents, _see_ Rats
Rome--
Business hours in, 65
University of, 118
Roofs--
Materials suitable for, 15-18
Sleeping places, as, 12-13
Ross, Major Ronald, F.R.S., research work on malaria causation, 90
Round worms, 180, 181
Salads, danger of, 58
Sambon _cited_, 95
Sand dunes as sites of houses, 2
Santonin, round worms expelled by, 181
Scandinavia, mosquitoes in, 101
_Science Siftings_ quoted, 74
Scorpions, 22, 115
Scurvy--
Infantile, due to sterilised milk, 49
Vegetable food, prevented by, 57
Sea water bathing for prickly heat, 177
Silk as wearing material in the tropics, 23
Singapore, 25
Sleeping arrangements in the tropics, 32; outdoor, 124
Sleeping sickness, 93, 164-166
Small-pox, 163-164
Smoke, mosquito destruction by means of, 113-115
Snakes, poisonous, 22
Solah hats, 29-30, 169-170
“Soothing Syrups,” 74
Soups--
Disease germs cultivated in, 48
Tinned, 61
Soy bean, 57
Spinach, 57
Spine, protection of, from sun’s rays, 30-31
Sprue, 150
Stagnant water, danger of, in malarial countries, 101, 102
Starched materials, unsuitability of, for hot climates, 26
Steel girders--
_Chang_ houses, for, 6
Substituting for wooden beams, advisability of, 15
_Stegomyia_--
Characteristics of, 102
Eggs of, figure of, 95
Family of, 97
Stimulants, use of, in malaria, 128-129
Straw, damp, mosquitoes driven out of houses by burning of, 114
Subterranean chambers in extreme heat, 13-14
Sugar in children’s diet, 77
Sulphur fumes--
Meat preserved by, 55
Mosquitoes destroyed by, 114-115
Plague, disinfection against, by, 161
Sulphuric acid, effect of, on the cholera germ, 137
Sun-dried bricks, properties of, as building material, 14-15
Sunshades, 33
Sunstroke, 29, 166-174
Swimming baths, disuse of, in India, 67
“Swiss Cottage Tent,” 85
Symes, Dr. J. O., _cited_, 74
Symmonds, Mr., of Rosa, 124
_Taikhana_, 13-14
Tape-worms--
Danger of, from uncooked meat, 55
Life history of, 183
“Tatties,” description and use of, 70
Tea for cleansing teeth, 45
Temperature limits within which malaria can be developed, 92
Tents--
Construction of, principles to be followed in, 84-86
English and Indian makes, 83-84, 86
Terraced roofs, suitability of, in tropical climates, 18
Thatch as roofing material, 15-16
Theobald, Mr., _cited_, 95
Thermantidote, description and use of, 70-71
Thread worms, 180-181
Thur dal, 60
Thymol as vermifuge, 182
Ticks, 94
Tiles as roofing material, 17
Timber, drawback to use of, in tropical buildings, 5-6, 15
Tinned provisions, 61-62
Tobacco, mosquitoes destroyed by fumes of, 114
Tomatoes, 58, 136
Total abstinence and health, 62
Train inspections, value of? in plague outbreaks, 161
Trees, avoidance of, in choice of dwelling sites, 2
Trousers, arranging, to protect against mosquitoes, 117, 118
_Trypanosomes_, 164, 165
Turban, the, 30
Tussur serge for outer garments, 29
“Twilled Lining” suitable for underwear in tropical climates, 27-28
Typhoid fever--
Contraction of, through fly-fouled food, 48
Conveyance of, 35
Hill stations, endemic in, 80
Vaccination, importance of revaccination, 163-164
Veal, unsatisfactoriness of, in hot countries, 54
Vegetables, 3, 56-57, 61
Ventilation--
Hats, of, 30
Persian Houses, in, 8-9
Tents, of, 85-86
Thatched roofs favouring, 15
Tropical houses, in, 6-8, 13, 68-69
Verandahs, roofing materials for, 17
Vermin, building materials harbouring, 15, 16
Voyage to the East, clothing for, 26
Water--
Aerated waters, _see that title_
Boiling of, for drinking purposes, need for, and for personal
superintendance of, 44-45, 133, 135
Contaminated, consequences of drinking--need for personal
supervision of supply, 35-37, 131, 132
Filtering, danger of, 44, 135
Hill diarrhœa due to mineral matter in, 149
Indian towns, supply to, 37-38
Sources of supply--
Rivers, 43
Springs, 43
Wells, _see that title_
Washing of clothes, 23-25
Wells--
Methods of becoming infected in India, 134
Purification of, methods of, 42, 43, 88, 134, 136-139
Reliability of, 40-41
Wet-nursing in the tropics, advisability of, 151-152
Women in hot climates, 71-72; suitable head-dress for, 171-178
Wood, _see_ Timber
Woollen materials, washing of, 23
Working hours in the tropics, 65-66
Worms, internal, prevention of diseases caused by, 179 _et seq._
Wyvern, “Culinary Jottings from Madras,” _quoted_, 54-55; _cited_, 64
Yellow fever, 93, 95, 97, 102
PART I.
CLIMATE AND HEALTH IN HOT
COUNTRIES.
CLIMATE AND HEALTH IN HOT COUNTRIES.
_PART I._
CHAPTER I.
On Housing and Domestic Architecture.
In hot climates, as elsewhere, people are rarely in a position to
exercise much choice in their selection of a habitation, as its site
must usually depend on considerations of business, and in the majority
of cases, the number of available dwellings is limited. Oftener still,
it is a matter of “Hobson’s choice,” and one must needs occupy the house
that has served one’s predecessors in the work in which one may happen
to be engaged. On this account it will be superfluous to do more than
generally indicate the general principles on which it is desirable, that
houses designed to afford shelter in hot climates, should be placed and
constructed.
In the matter of choice of site, the same general considerations as to
soil and configuration of the ground that determine our choice in
temperate climates, as a rule, hold good. A gravelly or sandy soil, and
gradients favourable to natural drainage, are even greater desiderata in
the Tropics than in Europe, and this is especially the case in climates
characterised by a heavy rainfall; but ideal sites are rare in all
countries, and as a rule, one must be content to make the best of less
favourably placed spots. In the countries which we are at present
considering, the especial danger against which we have to guard is
always that of malaria, and hence, in choosing the site for a house or
station, the great point is to select one, which is, as far as possible,
free from natural or artificial collections of water, within a radius of
a quarter of a mile; or at any rate, including such only as can be
easily filled in, drained, or otherwise dealt with. The site should also
be sufficiently raised above the level of some natural watercourse to
afford an adequate outfall for its surface drainage.
For a single house, no better position can be selected than the summit
of a mound, whether natural or artificial; and such situations are
generally to be preferred to the slope of a hill, even where the latter
affords a considerably greater elevation. On the sea coast, and not
unfrequently in the neighbourhood of some of the great rivers, sand
dunes, where sufficiently clad with vegetation to afford a sufficiently
stable foundation, form excellent sites for single houses, good examples
of which are to be found in Chittagong, where nearly every European
residence has its own little hill, on which it is perched by itself; and
it is doubtless to this circumstance that the comparative healthiness of
the European population of the town, under otherwise unfavourable
surroundings, is mainly due. The neighbourhood of jungle, and even of
trees, should be as far as possible avoided, for trees undoubtedly
harbour mosquitoes, and their presence is generally equivalent to that
of malaria: moreover, the appearance of coolness, associated with trees,
is deceptive rather than real. As a rule, even when numerous and thickly
set, they throw no actual shade on the walls of the house, which hence
receives as fully the power of the sun as it would in an open plain, and
added to this they obstruct the breeze and generally impede ventilation;
so that a house placed in the midst of a glaring, treeless space is
often really far cooler than one surrounded with fine timber. Even a
garden is by no means too desirable an adjunct to a tropical residence,
for unless there is abundant labour to keep it in a condition of perfect
neatness, and constant intelligent supervision to ensure that the
cultivation of flowers and vegetables be not associated with the
breeding of mosquitoes, it is only too likely to originate fever of a
luxuriance at least equalling that of its roses and salads.
It must not of course be forgotten, that the provision of a free supply
of good vegetables is everywhere an essential to health, and is in many
localities obtainable in no other way than by the maintenance of a
garden, and that under such circumstances, it is probably safest to keep
their cultivation under personal supervision; but where such an
accessory is indispensable, its attendant dangers should always be
carefully borne in mind, and care should be taken that the garden should
be so worked as to avoid its becoming a breeding place for mosquitoes. A
house for example, such as that shown in the subjoined sketch, makes,
doubtless, a very inviting picture, but when lived in, it would be found
that the fine trees almost completely cut off the breeze, that the
beautiful creepers render the verandahs and the rooms behind them
“stuffy,” and that the wealth of vegetation, combined with the
arrangements for irrigation, render it a veritable paradise of
mosquitoes.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--A Regular Mosquito-trap Bungalow.]
Coming now to questions of general plan, one of the first essentials is
that the floor level should be well raised above that of the surrounding
ground. In most localities this object is attained by simply forming a
platform of earth dug from some situation hard by, so as to form a
plinth; and too often, the excavations for the purpose are made
absolutely without plan or method, and result in the production of a
number of irregular depressions, close by the habitation; which during
rainy weather are always full of water, and form ideal breeding places
for mosquitoes, besides too often serving as depositories for refuse.
The earth for forming the plinth should, however, never be allowed to be
obtained in this way, but previously to laying out the plan of the house
or station, a careful survey of the levels and contours of the site
should be made, and the alignment of a series of deep cuttings, so
designed as to form an efficient system of surface drains extending from
the site to the nearest natural effluent, should be laid out, so that
the spoil wherewith to form plinths should be taken in a systematic
manner in the digging of these cuttings, and from no other situations.
The cuttings should be made as deep and narrow as they can be without
expensive revetting of the sides, as experience has shown that the larvæ
of the really dangerous species of mosquitoes, the _Anopheletes_, avoid
collections of water shielded from the sun and light. As the station
develops, it may perhaps become possible to pave these channels with
some permanent material, such as brick or concrete, but as a rule the
expense of such a proceeding is prohibitory. When, however, a certain
amount of money is available for this purpose, it should be devoted to
paving the smaller shallow surface drains close to the dwelling, and the
deeper distant cuttings close to the effluent left to the last. No house
should ever be allowed to be constructed with a plinth of less than one
foot, and provided the material be obtainable without making undesirable
excavations, it cannot well be too high, a fact well understood by the
earlier European residents in India, whose fine old houses, however
wanting their work may be in the matter of finish, form an admirable
contrast, in this and many others of the essentials of a healthy
residence, to the cramped, low-lying heat traps of admirably pointed
brickwork in which the occupant of a “sealed pattern” government quarter
is now doomed to live.
The writer is personally strongly of opinion that all tropical
residences should be at least two storied, so that the sleeping
apartments should be raised at least some 12 or 15 feet above the
ground, and of course, where this is the case, the provision of a high
plinth is less essential, but in any case, the minimum of at least a
foot should be insisted upon.
In regions such as Assam and Burmah, where the rains are so heavy as to
reduce the entire country to a chronic condition of flooding, any
adequate plinth would be so costly that both natives and settlers build
their houses perched up on poles, and the numerous sanitary advantages
of the plan are undeniable; which is also, I understand, adopted in
Honduras.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--In the above sketch of an ordinary Anglo-Burman
bungalow, it will be noticed that the large projecting porch is raised
higher than the rest of the house so as to admit of a carriage being
driven beneath it to the foot of the steps to the platform of the house.
These porches form a sort of open-air sitting room, and are more usually
on the same level as the rest of the house. They form a most attractive
feature of most Burmese bungalows, but it would be very difficult to
protect them against mosquitoes by means of wire gauze.]
The general characteristics of these “_chang_” houses may be gathered
from the above sketch. In the cottages of the peasantry the “_chang_,”
or platform, is rarely raised more than 4 or 5 feet above the ground,
but 10, or even 15 feet is no uncommon height in the case of the houses
of people of means and position. Even in the case of houses occupied by
planters and officials, the walls are largely composed of bamboo
matting, while in those of the populace, the floor itself is formed of a
stouter variety of the same material; and on account of the growing cost
of timber of a class that will resist white ants, I have little doubt
that ere long steel girders will replace the wooden framework and
corrugated iron will take the place of the picturesque thatched roof, at
any rate in the coast towns. A _chang_ of concrete carried on stout
corrugated iron, 8-inch walls of the “Elizabethan” pattern, and a double
corrugated iron roof, with a large intervening air space, would form a
most comfortable, if not very beautiful, residence, for the combination
of heat and moisture with the evils of which the _chang_ house is
intended to cope; but walls of such flimsy materials would be of little
avail to withstand the furnace-heated air of hot dry climates, such as
are met with in the Punjab and the deserts of Rajputana.
One of the great sanitary advantages of the _chang_ house is the
circulation of air beneath the floors, and the comparative immunity from
vermin secured by its isolation on the top of high posts, and though
there is no objection to the storing beneath it of carriages and other
articles frequently moved, because in daily request, the covered space
beneath the house should on no account be allowed to degenerate into a
lumber room, as not only will lumber attract dangerous vermin, but with
the inevitable numerous native dependants, the lumber room will soon
develop into a refuse heap, or worse. Although there is no need to
construct a regular plinth, the ground below the _chang_ should always
be slightly raised by laying down a layer of gravel, as any collection
of water would be obviously unhealthy; besides which, if kept in proper
order, the large shady space forms an excellent playground for children,
where such charming encumbrances form part of the household.
In actually desert climates, a plinth is less essential, but there are
comparatively few countries in which heavy rain does not occur at some
time of the year, and any dampness of the soil immediately underlying a
house is always unhealthy.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Ground plan of an existing “up-country” Indian
Bungalow, in which the doors and windows are well placed. (The dotted
lines represent wire gauze screens.) Scale, 18′ = 1″]
The second great desideratum of a tropical house is free ventilation, to
secure which at least one, and preferably two, sides of each room should
be in free communication with the outer air by means of doors or
windows, and some at least of these should extend to the floor level or
near it. Many Indian houses are spoilt by want of attention to this
point, especially those of long standing; for though the original plan
may have been fairly sound, the desire for additional accommodation
generally, in course of time, leads to additions, and especially to the
enclosure of verandahs, whereby rooms, originally light and airy, are
quite cut off from all exterior ventilation. Many of these enclosed
rooms have small dormer or clerestory windows, close up to the roof; but
openings of this sort are no real substitute for proper windows and
doors in the usual position, and where choice can be exercised, a house
with inner rooms should be rejected in favour of one affording freer
ventilation.
The subjoined plan is a good example of an existing, well-planned
bungalow of one floor, in which every room has external doors and
windows, and several have them on two sides. It should be added that
every room has one or more clerestory windows to give exit to the heated
air that always finds its way to the top of any enclosed space.
In the best class of houses in Persia this principle of free external
ventilation is often carried to the extent of all four sides of the
rooms being provided with several openings--the different rooms being
separated from each other by open passages, running right across the
building from verandah to verandah.
As there are often several doors on each side, one easily realises that
Aladdin’s hundred-doored palace may have been no mere creation of the
fancy, but was probably based on some actual palace--indeed, as a matter
of fact, the Subsabad Residency at Bushire has, I believe, a good deal
over the allowance of doors assigned to Aladdin’s palace, and I know
that the room I occupied there had no less than nine doors, though two
of them gave access respectively to a dressing-room and bath-room.
The outline (fig. 4) will give some idea of the way in which the rooms
are arranged; but it is needless to say that the plan is a very
expensive one. It will be noticed that the southern verandahs are
double. Practically speaking, indeed, a Persian house is little else
than a series of colonnades, with the spaces between certain of the
pillars filled in with door frames, so that it would be an expensive
business to fortify one against the invasion of mosquitoes.
Houses of this type are well suited to climates usually blessed with a
good breeze, and in which the heat during the day does not reach such a
degree as to necessitate shutting it out, and are specially adapted to
places where, from scarcity of labour, there is a difficulty about the
pulling of punkahs. When, however, the midday heat reaches into the
nineties, such a plan of building becomes unsuitable, and it is
necessary to adopt the thick-walled type of house, with comparatively
few floor level openings; the object being to keep imprisoned the cooler
night air, so that the interior may never approach the maximum shade
temperature of the day. It is obvious that the adoption of this
principle quite precludes all proper ventilation, and that unless the
rooms are exceptionally large and lofty it must be positively unhealthy.
At the same time, heat beyond a certain degree induces such severe
nervous and physical prostration that the adoption of this course is
almost unavoidable during the worst hours of the day in such climates as
the Punjab; but the shorter the period the better, and as the same
reasons that render the house cooler than the outer air in the day, make
it hotter at night; it is always well to compensate for the lack of
ventilation during the day by sleeping absolutely in the open at night.
[Illustration: FIG. 4.--Rough ground plan of an European Bungalow in
Persia.]
Too often, not only the air, but the light is shut out, a course of
action which is as pernicious as it is futile, for unless the sun be
shining directly into the room its temperature will be in no way raised
by admitting an ample amount of light.
There can be no doubt that this baneful practice of keeping children
shut up in darkened rooms is one of the principal causes of the blanched
and enfeebled little ones so often met with in India; for they suffer
promptly from deprivation of light, though they are wonderfully tolerant
of heat, and if unchecked by their anxious mothers, will follow their
own wholesome instincts, and be found romping and tumbling about with
the servants and orderlies in the verandah, at temperatures that make
their parents devote anxious consideration to the question of crossing a
room.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.--Sketch of bungalow with terraced roof, of a type
very common in the Punjab and United Provinces in India. Speaking
generally, this bungalow is well planned. Its faults are that the
verandah is too low-pitched, leaving a needlessly large proportion of
the external walls exposed to the full power of the sun. The dormer or
ventilating windows also are too low down, as they leave several feet of
confined “dead” air at the top of the rooms. They should have been
placed close up to the cornice.]
The third important consideration in planning a good tropical house is
that the outer walls should, as far as possible, be shielded from the
direct rays of the sun by ample verandahs. Objects exposed to the full
glare of the sun soon become so hot that it is difficult to handle them,
reaching a temperature 40° or 50° F. higher than that of the air, and
though building materials conduct heat but slowly, they do so very
surely, so that the air within any building with extensive unshielded
sunward walls cannot fail to be considerably hotter than that of one so
planned that as small an area of wall as possible is directly exposed.
Within the true Tropics, the sun must necessarily come to the northward
of any localities for a longer or shorter portion of the year, and in
such low latitudes it is desirable that the verandah should extend all
round the house; but outside the equatorial zone the side looking away
from the noon-day sun may be left unprotected as far as the coolness of
the house is concerned; though a northern verandah is still desirable,
as affording the most eligible position for an open air lounge during
the day. Within practicable limits, a verandah can hardly be too wide,
and as one of its main functions is to shield the main wall, it is also
important that it should be high pitched, but this point is too often
lost sight of, although the additional cost of constructing a
higher-pitched verandah is very small, as the supports of these
structures cost but little, in comparison with the roof. Of course the
oblique rays of the sun will search into a high verandah for a longer
time than they can in a low one, but this defect is easily obviated by
closing the upper part of the colonade with wooden jalousies or with
mats, but in this case openings should be provided in the roof to give
exit to what must be almost dead air. Verandahs of less than six feet
width are of comparatively little use, and 10 feet may be considered to
be a fair average standard, but 15 feet is by no means excessive, if it
can be afforded, and as shown in the diagram on page 9, double
verandahs, consisting of two colonnades, each about 12 feet wide, are by
no means uncommon in Persia.
To attain an equivalent standard of comfort, the rooms of a tropical
house require to be much higher pitched than is needful in temperate
climates, but it is quite possible to carry this to excess, as over a
certain height, the pendulum swing of the punkah is too slow; and it is
well known to students of ventilation that spaces of dead air,
unsearched by the currents normally circulating through the room, are
very apt to be found in too lofty apartments. From 16 to 18 feet is a
good average standard, and if the height be carried many feet above the
higher figure, it is desirable that a strong beam should be carried
across the room, at about that level, to carry the punkah. As far as
ventilation is concerned, there is probably little advantage in any
height of ceiling above 13 feet, but this does not give an adequate
swing for a punkah.
As already incidentally mentioned, the writer holds a strong preference
for houses of two or more floors. While residents of Calcutta or Bombay
will never, if they can avoid it, live on the ground floor, there is a
general but quite unfounded idea, amongst up-country residents in India,
that upper floors are necessarily hotter.
It is needless to say that the reverse is actually the case, and that
other things being equal, upper storey rooms are necessarily cooler and
more healthy, on account of their better exposure to the breeze and
their being to a great extent raised above dust and other more subtle
emanations from the soil. The reason for this misapprehension is that,
outside the Presidency towns, upper rooms are almost universally
makeshift additions, with no proper verandah protection, and often
flimsy roofs. Now it is obvious that to gain the full advantage of an
upper storey, all verandahs should be carried right up, so that except
in being elevated above the soil, the upper rooms are exact
reproductions of those below them. I cannot recall, however, a single
instance of a properly planned two-storied house “up-country,” and it is
absurd to expect that a room with thin brick walls, exposed directly to
the sun’s rays, can be as comfortable as one with massive walls and
broad verandahs. It may be admitted that during the day, when the doors
are shut to keep out the heat, the upper rooms of a two-storied house
will be hotter than the lower ones, because one has but a single roof
overhead in place of two, but they will be cooler than the lower ones
would be, assuming the upper story to be removed.
It is also extremely desirable that the plan of the house should include
a stair giving access to the roof, as during the hot dry season, there
can be no doubt that it is by far the healthiest plan to sleep there.
A small area of thatched roof supported on four pillars should be
erected on the roof to protect the sleeper from dew, and to prevent his
being worried by the glare of the moon, which to say the least of it
makes it very difficult to sleep. Whether there is any truth in the
belief that exposure to the moon’s rays may cause blindness or not, I
cannot say, but I certainly have met with a number of cases of temporary
blindness for which it was, to say the least of it, extremely difficult
to find any plausible explanation other than the popular one. Moreover,
as we are quite in the dark as to the _modus operandi_ of true
sunstroke, it seems unscientific to deny that over-stimulation of the
retina by the moon’s rays can be capable of producing the symptoms in
question, and at any rate it is preferable to act on the assumption that
“moon-blindness” may be a possible contingency.
It is, further, a matter of great importance that the upper limits of
the air-space included within a room should be ventilated by means of
openings placed close up to the ceiling, as otherwise a stratum of
impure, heated air will lodge there, which can only be removed by the
slow action of diffusion. In one-storied houses this is usually effected
by means of small windows, and in order to admit of a sufficient number
of these being provided, it is a common expedient to carry the walls of
rooms situated in the interior of the house above those of the lateral
rooms, as shown in fig. 4. There should, however, be no necessity for
doing this, as no room should be ever built with no external wall; and
though upper openings on more sides than one may be desirable, this is
not so essential as to warrant the large increase of cost involved in
building in this way. Where a house has an upper storey, the top
ventilation of the lower rooms is usually effected by openings into the
verandahs; but this is by no means a satisfactory outlet, and it would
be far preferable to effect the purpose by means of shafts carried up in
the thickness of the walls to the roof, the long column of air within
which would favour the production of a good current.
In certain parts of the East, subterranean chambers (_taikhana_) are
used as a refuge during periods of extreme heat, and are occasionally
to be met with in very old European bungalows, though I have never seen
one in actual use. Good examples are to be seen in the ruins of the
historical Residency at Lucknow; and it was within them that many of the
women and children were sheltered during the memorable siege. They can,
of course, be ventilated only from above; but there can be no doubt that
they are cooler than rooms above ground, and it is possible that the
principle might be adopted with advantage under certain extreme climatic
conditions.
The materials appropriate for house-building necessarily vary according
to the character of the climate, but it is desirable to consider briefly
the advantages and disadvantages of those in most common use. Taking
first the structure of the walls, it may be noted that in rainy climates
near the coast, where very high temperatures are seldom registered, the
materials can hardly be too flimsy and permeable; but as one recedes
from the coast and meets with the extreme climates characteristic of the
interior of continents, it will be found that the buildings become
progressively more massive; so that while the Bengali or Malay inhabits
a shanty formed of thatch and matting, the peasant of the Punjab
shelters himself within mud halls some two feet thick. These differences
in domestic architecture are the necessary outcome of differing
environment, and to be comfortable, European houses must be built of
very much the same materials as those of the natives around them.
In dry climates, sun-dried bricks make an excellent wall, which resists
heat even better than one of burnt brick, and provided it be protected
from rain, it is wonderfully permanent and much stronger than would be
expected; so that heavy, terraced roofs are easily carried by a two-feet
thickness of this material, and they are even quite adequate to sustain
a second story of lighter materials. The great drawback of the material
is that it forms a favourite haunt for white ants, which tunnel it in
all directions; but this can easily be obviated by introducing, just at
the floor level, a single course of some damp and insect-proof
material, such as burnt brick, laid on cement and tarred. Owing to its
extreme cheapness a large house can be built for the same expenditure as
a small one of burned brick, and as air space is of the greatest
importance in hot climates, it is unfortunate that this material is not
more utilised in Government buildings.
_Flooring._--The most suitable material is stone flagging, marble, of
course, being preferable. After these come hard tiles, brick on edge,
and cement, in order of desirability. Besides these there are, of
course, various special modern inventions, but they hardly come into
practical consideration, outside large seaports. Wooden floors should be
generally avoided, as owing to decay and the attacks of insects, they
are apt to become dangerous, and may give way unexpectedly at any time.
For upper floors, by far the most suitable material is the narrow brick
arch supported on steel girders, which are now so generally obtainable
and cheap, that they can be economically substituted for wooden beams in
any locality tolerably accessible from a railway.
One great advantage of this form of construction of flooring and
terraced roofs, is the entire absence of nooks and crannies which can
harbour vermin, for even the equally massive roofs of concrete, laid on
flat tiles supported by a system of beams and battens, afford most
dangerous refuges for disagreeable intruders, and I well remember an
inmate of my house being put to intense suffering on two successive
nights by vermin that fell from such a roof; the first disturber of our
rest being an enormous centipede, and the second a hornet. For the same
reason, all cornices and similar architectural adornments are distinctly
to be deprecated.
The roofing materials generally employed in tropical countries are
thatch, tiling, terraced constructions, and corrugated iron. Thatch is,
from many points of view, an excellent material, as while it favours
ventilation by being extremely pervious to air, it gives excellent
shelter from rain, and is quite unequalled as a protection against the
sun; in addition to which it does not, to any appreciable extent, throw
out into the house during the night the heat absorbed during the day.
With all this, it has great and, it is to be feared, preponderating
disadvantages, the principal of which is that it forms a perfectly ideal
refuge for vermin of all sorts, vertebrate and invertebrate. As a rule,
owing to the high pitch necessary in this form of roofing, the lower
edge of the roof is rarely more than a few feet from the ground, and
owing to the usual existence of creepers, trellises and similar
facilities, is usually easily accessible to any animal endowed with the
most moderate powers of climbing. Owing to this, such roofs are usually
honeycombed with the nests of squirrels, rats, civet cats, and half wild
domestic cats, to say nothing of snakes, and birds and other flying
things. The large empty space between the ceilings and the rafters is
usually alive with bats, and as all this extensive population is quite
without any system of conservancy, an old thatched roof is simply
permeated with guano; and the emanations from this necessarily find
their way into the house, and indeed are always plainly perceptible in a
thatched house that, for any reason, has been shut up for any length of
time.
Besides this, the substance of the thatching is always slowly
decomposing under the slow action of mildew, and this adds further musty
exhalations to the bouquet. Hence, if used at all, the thatch should be
completely renewed at frequent intervals, and its employment should be
confined to situations which cannot be scaled by large vertebrate
vermin.
Where it is used, the interior of the rooms should be completely cut off
from the cavity of the roof by some fairly impervious ceiling, such as
one formed of match-boarding, and not, as is commonly the case, by a
“ceiling cloth” of ill-stretched canvas.
These “ceiling cloths” are utter abominations, and, even when their
untidy appearance is ameliorated by subdividing the cloth into a number
of small panels, the improvement is purely one of appearance, and in no
way diminishes their sanitary defects, so that no effort should be
spared to induce landlords to replace them with match-boarding or any
material that will shut out the emanations from the thatch and its
inhabitants.
For some reason, the lath-and-plaster ceilings and partitions, so
commonly used in Europe, are never employed in Indian house-building. It
is difficult to understand why this is so, as the natives are skilful
plasterers, and there would be no difficulty whatever in teaching them
this particular application of their trade, which would be a valuable
and inexpensive expedient in this and a number of other cases.
Tiles of the old-fashioned sort present few of the advantages of thatch,
and most of its disadvantages, besides numerous special objections of
their own, but these remarks do not apply to roofs formed of large tiles
of European patterns laid on a properly graded framework of squared
battens. To these latter the only objection is that they let in too much
heat unless they are supplemented with a tolerably substantial ceiling;
and the same remarks apply even more to corrugated iron, but both these
materials, and especially tiles, are excellent materials for verandahs,
especially those of upper stories, where weight is a consideration.
Corrugated iron, however, is scarcely tolerable in extreme climates
unless it is actually doubled, and the most scientific way of doing this
is to form a ceiling of corrugated iron of a thin gauge screwed _up_ to
light joists and painted white below. On the upper surface, should be
spread about an inch of dry sand, to retain which it is necessary that
any ventilation openings should be protected with a wooden edging. The
outer roof should be of stouter gauge, and must of course be pitched at
an appropriate slope, and it is of the first importance that the space
between the two roofs should be freely ventilated by large openings
placed at the apices of the gables, but these openings should be secured
against the entry of birds and cats by means of wire netting, and all
other openings by which they can enter should be carefully closed with
plaster. The coolness of a roof so planned depends largely on the
thickness of the layer of dry sand, and, provided the joists that carry
the sheets are fairly strong, there is no difficulty in raising this to
even a couple of inches. The preceding materials all have the
disadvantage that they must be pitched at a considerable slope, and
hence cannot be used as a platform for sleeping on.
All considered, however, a terraced roof, formed of brick arches
supported on steel girders, covered with concrete, is by far the best
for most tropical climates. It forms an excellent protection against sun
and rain, and the smooth finish of both its upper and lower surfaces
offers absolutely no hiding place for even insects; besides which it
forms an excellent elevated platform on which to sleep during periods of
intense dry heat. Its one disadvantage is that a great deal of the heat
absorbed during the day is radiated into the rooms at night, and that it
generally is inferior as a non-conductor either to thatch, or to double
roofs of any description.
Another form of terraced roof commonly found in dry climates consists of
a considerable thickness of beaten clay, spread on mats supported on a
system of beams and battens.
Owing to their great thickness and the fact that the clay conducts heat
much less easily than burnt bricks, such roofs are very cool, and they
form a good sleeping platform; but they give endless trouble during
periods of rain, as they _always_ leak at the beginning of one, and
vermin are apt to harbour amongst the matting and battens that carry the
mud. Owing to their immense weight, too, they are not free from danger,
especially as they are usually found in combination with walls of
unburnt brick, which offer no obstacle whatever to the tunnelling of
white ants, which thus can readily reach the beams, the interior of
which may be entirely eaten away by these mischievous insects without
any sign of the mischief appearing externally.
All the above considerations appear at first sight tolerably obvious and
would, one would think, be adopted wherever not rendered impracticable
by consideration of cost, and yet it is perfectly wonderful to notice
how frequently every consideration of common-sense sanitation and
comfort is ignored in buildings, on which neither space nor expense have
been stinted.
Quite recently the writer halted in a large hotel which illustrated this
point in a most pitiable manner. The masonry was admirable, being worthy
almost of an Egyptian monument, and speaking generally, it was obvious
that expense had been almost disregarded by the enterprising
proprietors. The management showed every desire to secure the comfort of
their guests, and the cuisine was excellent. In spite of this the bulk
of the rooms were scarcely habitable, as they seemed contrived to give a
tropical sun the best possible chance to make itself felt. Save for a
verandah of paltry width to the magnificent dining-room, these
indispensable adjuncts of a tropical residence were absolutely wanting.
Moreover, this omission was clearly not due to any desire or necessity
for economising space, for the area absolutely wasted in the form of
corridors was astonishing, and could not have fallen short of half the
space occupied by the sleeping rooms, though these were exceptionally
spacious. Facing south-east, the full glare of the sun and the dazzling
reflection from the sea glared directly into the windows of the most
desirably placed rooms, without even the protection of an ordinary
“jalousie,” while the magnificent view was shut out by windows of
granulated greenish glass, the sashes being pivoted in such a way as to
make it difficult to enjoy either the breeze or the prospect, even when
they were opened. Apart from these latter details, the building would be
admirably adapted for the accommodation of winter visitors in Italy,
where the sun is made to do duty for artificial heat, and the whole is a
striking example of the way in which the most lavish expenditure may be
rendered futile by a want of due appreciation of the principles that
should govern tropical domestic architecture. I give this instance
mainly to show that, however self-evident the principles described above
may appear, they are far from being generally appreciated.
These principles may be briefly epitomised as follows:--
(1) Through ventilation of all rooms.
(2) The elevation of all rooms, and especially of sleeping chambers, to
as great a height as practicable above the ground.
(3) The selection of appropriate building materials which cannot harbour
vermin.
(4) The shielding of outer walls from becoming heated by the direct rays
of the sun by the provision of adequate verandahs.
(5) The application of the same principle to the construction of roofs
by planning them so as to secure a well-ventilated air space between the
actual roof and a fairly substantial ceiling, or by constructing them of
massive materials, if single.
(6) The admission of sufficient light.
In the case of a house of moderate dimensions, these principles might be
carried out as follows:--
Basement of brick arches ten feet high, including a low plinth and
thickness of floor. These arches would be utilised for the accommodation
of the kitchen, cook room, pantry, lamp room, store room, coach house,
and well house, the well being placed beneath the house, and so well
protected from any neighbouring fouling of the soil. The platform of the
house supported on these arches would be pierced only by a concealed
staircase for the use of the sweeper, but this would not be in
communication with the other offices, though a hand lift might
advantageously be arranged between kitchen and dining room. First floor
18 feet high-dining room, drawing room, office, and one or more bedrooms
with dressing and bathrooms communicating with them, if large
accommodation is required. Verandah all round not less than 10 feet
wide. Second floor, 17 feet in height--principal bedrooms with dressing
and bathrooms, some of the central rooms provided with terraced roof;
the rest, together with the verandahs, with tiles of good pattern, the
rooms having substantial ceilings. On terraced roof-large iron
water-tank, with windmill to work force pump from well; small sleeping
shelter, and protected with corrugated iron roof, supported on pillars.
It would be well to have the southern verandahs (in the northern
hemispheres) of greater width than the others, and to place in them the
stairs giving access to the second storey and to the roof.
The first floor would be reached by means of a flight of steps leading
from the carriage drive, which might, if desired, be protected by a
sloping porch. Such a house would, of course, be somewhat costly, but
not much more so than one of equal accommodation constructed on the
ordinary plan, and would undoubtedly be far more healthy than those of
the usual type.
It is needless to remark that this imaginary residence would be
completely protected against mosquitoes by means of metallic gauze, but
the point is not dealt with here, as it is fully considered in the
chapter on the prevention of malaria.