which has received little or no consideration, judging from what one may observe who chooses to look about them.  Circumstances entirely beyond the control of most people conspire to locate for them their places of abode, and when originally selected no regard was paid to sanitary laws, and the result many times has been the forfeiture of precious lives as a penalty.

Not till a very recent period has the character of the soil figured to so great an extent as is now conceded.  It has been proved by statistics, both in New England and the mother country, that a heavy, wet soil is prolific of colds and consumption; while, on a warm, dry soil the latter disease is little found.  If we stop to consider what has been written in the previous chapters on climate, and that it was stated that a cold, humid atmosphere, from whatever cause, coupled with variable temperature, was the chief occasion of consumption, we can the more easily understand why a wet soil would tend to produce this disease.  Whether the dampness arises from excessive shade, or is inherent in the soil, which may be so situated as to receive the drainage water of more elevated surfaces contiguous, is not material, so that it is the prevailing condition, thereby constantly exhaling cold vapors, which sow the seeds of death in many an unsuspecting household.

We cannot urge the importance of a right location better than to again quote from Dr. Bowditch what he once wrote with regard to the residence of two brothers whose healths were equally good, as was that of their wives, but one chose a home upon a dry, sandy soil, while the other settled upon a wet, cold plain—­not remote from each other.  “Large families were born under both roofs.  Not one of the children born in the latter homestead escaped, whereas the other family remained healthy; and when, at the suggestion of a medical friend, who knew all the facts, * * * we visited the place for the purpose of thoroughly investigating them. * * * These two houses had nothing about them peculiarly noticeable by the passing stranger.  They were situated in the same township, and within a very short distance one from the other, and yet scarcely any one in the village with whom we spoke on the subject agreed with us in our opinion that it was location alone, or chiefly that, which gave life or death to the inmates of the two homes.”

We suppose thousands must continue to pay the penalty of the faulty locations of those who first built, since it is difficult to persuade many to sever the ties which bind them to their early homes, even though they are unhealthful, to say nothing of the expense to be incurred in making a change, yet those who have homesteads to establish encounter none of these drawbacks, and should exercise great care in making selection of a site for their dwellings.

A dry soil is indispensable to good health, and if it cannot be found as dry as wished for, it may be remedied by thorough underdraining.  A sandy soil, the poorest or dryest on the farm or lot, is the best point to erect a healthful home.