HEATING AND LIGHTING UTENSILS IN NATIONAL MUSEUM 107 



the old-fashioned fire place. (PI. 95, fig. 6-9; Cat. No. 26843; Sco- 

 ville and Johnson; 13.4 inches (34 cm.) long, 8.7 inches (22 cm.) 

 wide, 2 inches (5 cm.) high.) 



A very useful fireside utensil and widely known is the Dutch 

 ■oven. The Dutch oven indicates the difficulty of cooking over the 

 open fire in the old fireplace, and it also represents the portable oven 

 which since the period of cast iron was used over the peripatetic 

 •camp fire as well as on the house fire. Of the variety of handled 

 three-leg pots which have an ancient ancestry the only one surviv- 

 ing indispensably to this day is the Dutch oven. It is the one 

 kitchen utensil which renders the miner, prospector, explorer, trav- 

 eler in wild country, the camper, and others independent in the 

 matter of cooking. It is awkward to pack and the legs, handle, and 

 Jid loop often damaged the outfit, but in that case it was a necessary 

 evil. The body of the Dutch oven is like a deep skillet, the latter 

 having degenerated from some such vessel. It stands on 3 legs and 

 has a straight handle, for which later, in some cases, a bail was 

 substituted. The lid is heavy, curved upward toward the border, 

 -and has a wrought-iron loop cast in the middle. In cooking with 

 the Dutch oven a little bed of coals is raked out of the fire in aj 

 •circular heap and the oven is set on and the lid put inplace. More 

 coals are put on the lid. Between these two fires the cooking goes 

 on, and after several removals of the lid for inspection, the bread or 

 «uch is found nicely baked. The adjustment of the fire top and 

 bottom is a nice matter. When the wind blows baking is difficult. 

 (PI. 98, fig. 3; Cat. No. 130315, United States; Emma Protzman.) 

 A smaller trivet pot from Alabama is also characteristic. It is 

 probable that there was a lid like that of the Dutch oven. (PI. 98, 

 fig. 2; Cat. No. 216022, Alabama; Louis Drummond; 6.7 inches 

 (17 cm.) diameter.) An old specimen in cast brass has the handle 

 projecting from the rim. (PI. 98, fig. 1; Cat. No. 276122, England; 

 Frances Benjamin Johnston; 5.3 inches (13.5 cm.) diameter, 4.4 

 inches (11 cm.) high.) Some of these pots were oval with lid as in 

 the Dutch oven and were large, for cooking a ham, a joint, or a fowl. 



A curious oven is found in Novogachic, southwestern Chihuahua, 

 Mexico. It is a large jar somewhat flattened on side and bordered 

 by a ridge. A fire is made in the jar and cakes or meat fried on the 

 exterior. This resembles the Near East oven or may be classed as 

 a variant of the baking slab and gridde. (PI. 98, fig. 4; Cat. No. 

 115781 Tarahumare Indians; Edward Palmer; 8% inches (22 cm.) 

 diameter, 12% inches (31 cm.) wide, I41/2 inches (37 cm.) long.) 



The Museum collection contains many pottery vessels, ancient and 

 modern, for cooking by boiling. The presumption is that boiling 



