One-third of life is passed in sleep. This period of unconsciousness and
rest is necessary for the renewal of vital strength, and upon its proper
management depends much of the health not merely of the husband and
wife, but of their offspring. A great deal has been written upon the
effect on health and happiness of occupying separate apartments,
separate beds in the same apartment, or the same bed. This vexed
question it is impossible to settle by absolute rules, suitable to all
cases. In general, it may be asserted that there are no valid
physiological reasons for desiring to change the custom which now
prevails in this and most other countries. When both parties are in good
health, and of nearly the same age, one bed-chamber, if sufficiently
roomy, may be used without any disadvantage to either. Such an
arrangement is also to be commended, because it secures closer
companionship, and thus developes and sustains mutual affection.

It is said that in Zurich, in the olden time, when a quarrelsome couple
applied for a divorce, the magistrate refused to listen to them at
first. He ordered that they should be shut up together in one room for
three days, with one bed, one table, one plate, and one cup. Their food
was passed in by attendants, who neither saw nor spoke to them. On the
expiration of the three days, it was usual to find that neither of them
wanted a separation.

As before stated, there are conditions under which sleeping together is
prejudicial to the health. A certain amount of fresh air during the
night is required by every one. Re-breathed air is poisonous. During
sleep constant exhalations take place from the lungs and from the skin,
which are injurious if absorbed. A room twelve feet square is too small
for two persons, unless it is so thoroughly ventilated that there is a
constant change of air. In fact, a sleeping apartment for two persons
should contain an air-space of at least twenty-four hundred cubic feet,
and the facilities for ventilation should be such that the whole amount
will be changed in an hour,--that is, at the rate of forty cubic feet
per minute; for it has been ascertained that twenty cubic feet of fresh
air a minute are required for every healthy adult.

Very young and very old people should never occupy the same bed. When
the married couple hold the relation to each other, in regard to age, of
grandfather and granddaughter, separate apartments should be insisted
upon.

Certain diseas