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Ventilation of the Victoria Infirmary, Glasgow
I76
V E N T I L A T I O N OF T H E V I C T O R I A I N F I R M A R Y , GLASGOW.
feared, an admission of failure to say they were not going to put them down, not in the sense of leaving and cleansing them periodically~ but putting them down by making them part of the work of public cleansing. Now, the getting of fresh power raised a question of considerable difficulty, and it was of some difficulty he should say, because the analogy which they seemed to suggest--namely, the creation of cleansing districts and the creation of water drainage districts--were essentially different. Primarily the reason of the water and drainage districts being necessary was that the water supply coming in and the drainage going out must conform to the configuration of the country. Now, that consideration, he rather thought, was at the bottom of the legislation on water and drainage districts, and it had not application to the purposes of public cleansing, and therefore the analogy failed in one of its main elements. He doubted whether they could make out nearly so strong a case for the creation of scavenging as was made successfully for the creation of districts for water and drainage. But he recognized that that observation did not go the whole way, because there was the additional reason they had stated--namely, that it was hardly fair that a man in a distant part of a county should be assessed in the cleansing of a village which lay 2o or 3o miles from his door. He threw out that suggestion merely that ,he might not be held as altogether committed to the analogy of the drainage and water supply district, although he recognized that in some respects the illustration was a useful one. With regard to the other matters--the proposed application to Scotland of the Registration Act, section 28, and of the other two Acts of i89o ---he did not think he could usefully say anything at the present stage. H e would undertake to look very carefully into each one of them in the light of what had been said and submitted in writing to see how far it was possible and expedient to apply them to Scotland. That would depend, to some extent, upon the result of any inquiry that might be made as to how they were worked in England, which, a.s they showed, had had the advantage of those provisions, and where they should be able to ascertain how they were actually worked. H e would undertake that they should he carefully looked into, and in the light of all that he should communicate with Lord Lothian to see how far they could be carried into practiCal effect. His Lordship having been thanked, the deputation withdrew. BAD WATER AT SILVERTON.wAt the February Callumpton Petty Sessions three labourers of Silverton disputed the payment of Is. io½d., sanitar), rate~ bringing evidence to shdw thab the sanitary authority had not used their powers to give them a proper water supply. The magistrates ordered the rates to be paid, sa~ing the Bench could not enter inte the matter o~ ~rater supply.
VENTILATION O F T H E V I C T O R I A INFIRMARY, GLASGOW. SIR DOUGLAS GALTON,in a recent letter to the Times, thus describes the ventilation of the Victoria Infirmary, Glasgow, as designed by Mr. W. Key : ! In this infirmary the air is renewed six times an hour. The air before it enters the wards is filtered and washed by being passed through an airwashing screen of cords, formed of horse rail and hemp, closely wound over a top rail of wood and under the bottom rail, forming a close screen i6 feet long by i2 feet high, affording nearly 2o0 square feet of surface. There is a constant trickling of water down the screen, by which it is kept wet, and the air in filtering through it has the dust and soot particles removed, and when once these have adhered to the wetted surfaces, a current of air of considerable velocity will not carry them through the screen, but the falling water floods them down into the drain. An automatic flushing tank is fixed in a position whereby 2o gallons of water is instantaneously discharged over the surface of the screen every hour to flush and remove any accumulation of wetted dust, soot, or germs, which may hot be removed from the screen by the trickling water over its surface. Thi~ goes on day and night, and in the district where the infirmary is built, near to the Queen'sPark, the atmosphere of which is supposed to be the purest in the city, a very considerable number of soot particles are extracted by this screen. It is alleged that one of the chief advantages of the washing screen is the facility with which it removes every vestige of fog, and that during the past winter when there were many days ~ of ,fog ot great density, within this building so soon as this screen was placed, the air was beautifully clear and bright. After passing the wet screen, the air is warmed by coming into contact with steam- heated coils. The air enters each ward by wlde, shallow ducts. placed along the wall five feet above the floor; the incoming air is directed towards the ceiling and is diffused ~ this incoming air drives out the air which had previously filled the ward, through openings at the floor levels. Recent experiments made on the quality of the air taken from three feet above the floor and three feet below the ceiling are stated to have shown that the air at three feet from the ceiling had no organic matter in it, and that the air of the ward generally was almost entirely free from microbes or moulds. SIV[ALL-POX AT CORFu.--ATHENS, FEBRUARY
16rH.--Small-pox is raging with great severityat Corfu. On the 8th instant I43 persons were down with the disease, and leveral deaths had occurred.~Rcutcr.
V E N T I L A T I O N OF T H E V I C T O R I A I N F I R M A R Y , GLASGOW.
feared, an admission of failure to say they were not going to put them down, not in the sense of leaving and cleansing them periodically~ but putting them down by making them part of the work of public cleansing. Now, the getting of fresh power raised a question of considerable difficulty, and it was of some difficulty he should say, because the analogy which they seemed to suggest--namely, the creation of cleansing districts and the creation of water drainage districts--were essentially different. Primarily the reason of the water and drainage districts being necessary was that the water supply coming in and the drainage going out must conform to the configuration of the country. Now, that consideration, he rather thought, was at the bottom of the legislation on water and drainage districts, and it had not application to the purposes of public cleansing, and therefore the analogy failed in one of its main elements. He doubted whether they could make out nearly so strong a case for the creation of scavenging as was made successfully for the creation of districts for water and drainage. But he recognized that that observation did not go the whole way, because there was the additional reason they had stated--namely, that it was hardly fair that a man in a distant part of a county should be assessed in the cleansing of a village which lay 2o or 3o miles from his door. He threw out that suggestion merely that ,he might not be held as altogether committed to the analogy of the drainage and water supply district, although he recognized that in some respects the illustration was a useful one. With regard to the other matters--the proposed application to Scotland of the Registration Act, section 28, and of the other two Acts of i89o ---he did not think he could usefully say anything at the present stage. H e would undertake to look very carefully into each one of them in the light of what had been said and submitted in writing to see how far it was possible and expedient to apply them to Scotland. That would depend, to some extent, upon the result of any inquiry that might be made as to how they were worked in England, which, a.s they showed, had had the advantage of those provisions, and where they should be able to ascertain how they were actually worked. H e would undertake that they should he carefully looked into, and in the light of all that he should communicate with Lord Lothian to see how far they could be carried into practiCal effect. His Lordship having been thanked, the deputation withdrew. BAD WATER AT SILVERTON.wAt the February Callumpton Petty Sessions three labourers of Silverton disputed the payment of Is. io½d., sanitar), rate~ bringing evidence to shdw thab the sanitary authority had not used their powers to give them a proper water supply. The magistrates ordered the rates to be paid, sa~ing the Bench could not enter inte the matter o~ ~rater supply.
VENTILATION O F T H E V I C T O R I A INFIRMARY, GLASGOW. SIR DOUGLAS GALTON,in a recent letter to the Times, thus describes the ventilation of the Victoria Infirmary, Glasgow, as designed by Mr. W. Key : ! In this infirmary the air is renewed six times an hour. The air before it enters the wards is filtered and washed by being passed through an airwashing screen of cords, formed of horse rail and hemp, closely wound over a top rail of wood and under the bottom rail, forming a close screen i6 feet long by i2 feet high, affording nearly 2o0 square feet of surface. There is a constant trickling of water down the screen, by which it is kept wet, and the air in filtering through it has the dust and soot particles removed, and when once these have adhered to the wetted surfaces, a current of air of considerable velocity will not carry them through the screen, but the falling water floods them down into the drain. An automatic flushing tank is fixed in a position whereby 2o gallons of water is instantaneously discharged over the surface of the screen every hour to flush and remove any accumulation of wetted dust, soot, or germs, which may hot be removed from the screen by the trickling water over its surface. Thi~ goes on day and night, and in the district where the infirmary is built, near to the Queen'sPark, the atmosphere of which is supposed to be the purest in the city, a very considerable number of soot particles are extracted by this screen. It is alleged that one of the chief advantages of the washing screen is the facility with which it removes every vestige of fog, and that during the past winter when there were many days ~ of ,fog ot great density, within this building so soon as this screen was placed, the air was beautifully clear and bright. After passing the wet screen, the air is warmed by coming into contact with steam- heated coils. The air enters each ward by wlde, shallow ducts. placed along the wall five feet above the floor; the incoming air is directed towards the ceiling and is diffused ~ this incoming air drives out the air which had previously filled the ward, through openings at the floor levels. Recent experiments made on the quality of the air taken from three feet above the floor and three feet below the ceiling are stated to have shown that the air at three feet from the ceiling had no organic matter in it, and that the air of the ward generally was almost entirely free from microbes or moulds. SIV[ALL-POX AT CORFu.--ATHENS, FEBRUARY
16rH.--Small-pox is raging with great severityat Corfu. On the 8th instant I43 persons were down with the disease, and leveral deaths had occurred.~Rcutcr.