the long ribbons of paper hanging loose, and you have a most effectual _fly-brush_. Cheap calico is still better, as paper tears easily and litters the room. Keep one always on hand for the kitchen, and two for the parlor and dining-room. If the flies have secured an entrance during the dishing of dinner, when it is served spread a large piece of netting over the table to protect the food from dust or the flies you may brush down. Open the door, let two persons take each a fly-brush, and, standing opposite the door, swing the brush in concert through the room swiftly toward the door, and it will be amusing and gratifying to observe how hastily the intruders will vacate the premises. One or two well-directed charges will leave you free to shut the net door, remove the netting from the table, and partake of your dinner unmolested. XIII. PURE AIR AND THOROUGH VENTILATION. AT all seasons of the year it is important that the house should be kept dry and well ventilated; but extra precautions are necessary in warm weather. The nights are often close and sultry; windows are left open with the hope--often a vain one--that an occasional breeze may deign to sweep through the rooms, and assist us in the labor of breathing. And here is danger. The night air, what there may be of it, and the heavy morning fogs, fill the house with dampness. The bedclothes are moist and disagreeable. The garments laid off on retiring at night, if left near an open window, are heavy with dew. Fever and ague, rheumatism, cholera, and dysentery lurk always in such an atmosphere. One of the best preventives is a quick blaze, in an open fireplace or stove, immediately after rising; no matter how warm the weather may be. A handful of brush or light wood, just to make a blaze, expel the bad air, and _dry_ the rooms, not _heat_ them, is all that is needed. Those who can be in the country during the summer will have no difficulty in finding plenty of brush,--dead branches, or sprouts, or bushes, cut off in clearing up the fields or hedges. On a rainy day, when outdoor work or play cannot be advantageously attended to, a child could easily cut them up into foot or foot and a half lengths, tie them in fagots, and pile them neatly in the wood-house, ready for use. Keep one of these fagots always in the fireplace or stove, ready for lighting every morning. It will dry and purify the air wonderfully, and save doctors’ bills and much sickness. Aside from the ill effects of dampness, the air is full of impurities arising from the body, and more injurious through the night than in the day. Professor Youmans says:--