118 OF THE COMMON EVACUATIONS.

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never to sleep in a bed but what was frequently usedthey would seldom find any ill consequences from achange.

Nothing is more to be dreaded by a delicate personwhen ©n a visit, than being laid in a bed which is kepton purpose for strangers. That ill-judged piece of com-plaisance becomes a real injury. AT .ne bad conse-quences from this quarter might easKy be prevented inprivate families, by causing their servants to sleep inthe spare beds, and resign them to strangers when theycome. In inns, where the beds are used almost everynight, nothing else is necessary than to keep the roomswell seasoned by frequent fires and linen dry.

That baneful custom, said to be practised in manyinns, of damping sheets, and pressing them, in order tosave washing, and afterwards laying them on the beds,ought, when discovered, to be punished with the utmostseverity. It is really a species of murder, and will oftenprove as fatal as poison or gun-shot. Indeed no linen,especially if it has been washed in winter, ought to beused till it has been exposed for some time to the fire;nor is this operation less necessary for linen washed insummer, provided it has lain by for any length of time.This caution is the more needful, as gentlemen are oftenexceedingly attentive to what they eat or drink at aninn, yet pay no regard to a circumstance of much moreimportance.*

Damp House)).

Damp houses frequently produce the like ill conse-quences; for this reason those who build should becareful to choose a dry situation. A house which standson a damp marshy soil or deep clay, will never bethoroughly dry. All houses, unless where the groundis exceedingly dry, should have the first floor a littleraised.

* If a person suspects that his bed is damp, the simple precautionof taking off the sheets, and lying in the blankets, with all, or mostof his clothes on, will prevent all the danger. I have practised thisfor many years, and never have been hurt by damp beds, though noconstitution, without care, is proof against their baneful influence.