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CHIMAPHILA 



CHIMPANZEE 



Chimaphila. See WINTER-GREEN. 

 Cllilllbora'zo, a conical peak of the Andes, in 

 Ecuador, 20,517 feet above the sea, but only about 

 11,000 above the level of the valley of Quito, to the 

 north. The ' silver bell ' of perpetual snow and 

 glacier was long erroneously regarded as the loftiest 

 mountain not only in America but in the whole 

 world. In 1745 La Condamine ascended to 16,730 

 feet ; no complete ascent had been made, till 

 Whymper in 1880 twice reached the summit. The 

 peak gives name to the province of Chimborazo, 

 to the south, with an area of 5523 sq. m., and a pop. 

 of 120,000. 



Chimbote, a port of Peru, 85 miles SE. of 

 Truxillo. Pop. 1500. 



Cllimere, a bishop's upper robe, to which the 

 lawn-sleeves are attached. That of Anglican 

 bishops is of black satin, that of English Roman 

 Catholics is of purple silk. 

 Chimes. See BELL. 



Chimney, a flue constructed in the thickness 

 of a wall or in a separate ' stalk ' for the purpose of 

 carrying off the smoke from a fireplace or furnace. 

 The heated air being lighter than the atmosphere 

 which maintains the tire, presses the smoke up- 

 wards, and rises with a rapidity proportioned to the 

 difference in weight, assuming that the chimney is 

 of proper construction and size. It has been found 

 in practice that a diameter of from 9 inches to 12 

 inches is suitable for the fireplaces of ordinary 

 rooms, but in the case of kitchens and other large 

 fires a greater width is required. In olden times it 

 was usual to build fireplaces of great size, with very 

 large chimneys, but as these admit a great quantity 

 of air at the ordinary temperature, the draught is 

 thereby checked, and the chimneys are apt to 

 smoke. Experience has taught that the ' throat ' 

 or entrance to the chimney from the fireplace 

 should be made as small as possible compatible 

 with its task of carrying off the products ot com- 

 bustion from the fire. A proper draught depends 

 also on the height of the chimney, which ought to 

 be sufficient to be above the interference of swirls 

 of air caused by surrounding buildings or other 

 objects. The higher the chimney, the greater the 

 draught. 



Chimneys are of comparatively modern origin. 

 Only traces of them are found in classic antiquity ; 

 but there must have been some such means of dis- 

 charging the smoke from the fires which heated the 

 hypocausts of the Roman baths. In medieval times, 

 the earliest examples of fireplaces with chimneys, 

 such as those in the Norman castles of Rochester 

 and Castle Hedingham, erected in the 12th century, 

 have only a short flue ascending a few feet, and 

 discharging by an oblong aperture in the outer face 

 of the wall. These were no 

 doubt found very smoky and 

 inconvenient, and ultimately 

 the chimneys were carried to 

 the roof. In Gothic buildings 

 they are often detached, and 

 the outlet is ornamented with 

 trefoil and other openings. 

 In the English halls the 

 centre hearth was long re- 

 tained, without any chimney, 

 the smoke being allowed to 

 find its way out through an 

 opening in the roof called the 

 Louvre (q.v.). In Scottish 

 mansions and castles the 

 fireplace was an invariable 

 feature in every apartment 

 (From Parker's Glossary.) from the 13th century. The 

 hall has always a large fire- 

 place and capacious chimney, while those of the 



Chimney, Tisbury, 

 Wilts. 



Chimney, Thornbury 

 Castle, Gloucester- 

 shire, 1514. 

 (From Parker.) 



bedrooms are smaller. In the late Gothic and 

 Elizabethan styles the chimneys are amongst the 

 most striking features of the design, being carried 

 up in lofty and highly ornamented stalks, fre- 

 quently built in brick. 



In modern times the external appearance of 

 chimneys has been greatly neglected, to the sad 

 disfigurement of our houses, but a better taste is 

 now beginning to prevail. In 

 one direction, however, modern 

 chimneys have received a great 

 development in connection 

 with furnaces and steam-en- 

 gines. In order to create a 

 draught, and so cause the fire 

 to burn with intense heat, 

 these chimney-stalks are car- 

 ried to a great height. The 

 difference of pressure of the 

 atmosphere between the top 

 and bottom, added to the light- 

 ness- of the air caused by the 

 heat, acts as the motive power 

 to the 'draught/ which thus 

 increases with the height of 

 the stalk. Amongst the 

 highest existing chimneys may 

 be mentioned the following : 



( 1 ) the Townsend shaft, Port 

 Dundas, Glasgow, which is 

 468 feet in total height, and 

 has a diameter of 32 feet at 

 base, and 13 feet 4 inches at 

 top ; weight, about 8000 tons. 



(2) St Rollox shaft, Glasgow 

 total height, 455 feet 6 

 inches ; diameter at base, 50 

 feet ; at top, 13 feet 6 inches. 



(3) Mechernich shaft, Cologne total height, 441 

 feet ; diameter ( square ) at base, 39 feet ; at top 

 (round), 11 feet 6 inches ; weight, about 5459 tons. 



An act to regulate chimney-sweeping was passed 

 as early as 1789 ; and in 1842, to prevent the fear- 

 ful cruelties practised on young chimney-sweepers, 

 it was rendered penal to compel or knowingly 

 allow any person under the age of twenty-one, to 

 ascend or descend a chimney or enter a flue for the 

 purpose of cleaning or curing it ; and no child 

 under sixteen could be thereafter apprenticed to 

 the trade. The act was extended and made more 

 stringent in 1864 and 1875. 



To extinguish a chimney on fire, it is only neces- 

 sary to hang over the fireplace a piece of wet 

 carpet or blanket : some handfuls of salt thrown 

 into the fire at the same time will greatly aid the 

 extinction. It is also recommended to scatter a 

 handful of flowers of sulphur over the dullest part 

 of the burning coals, the vapour arising from which 

 will not support combustion, and will consequently 

 extinguish the flames. Throwing water down from 

 the top is a clumsy expedient, by which much dam- 

 age is frequently done to furniture ; so also is stop- 

 ping at the top, by which the smoke and suffocat- 

 ing smell of the burning soot are driven into the 

 apartment. If every fireplace were provided with 

 a damper, or shutter of sheet-iron, sufficiently large 

 to choke it thoroughly, fire in chimneys would 

 become of little consequence, as it would only be 

 necessary to apply this damper to extinguish them. 

 All good modern grates are furnished with such 

 dampers. To set chimneys on fire with a view to 

 clean them is highly objectionable, even where 

 there is no danger of fire to be apprehended, as 

 the intense heat produced rends and weakens the 

 walls. For other connected subjects, see SMOKE, 

 VENTILATION, WARMING. 



Chimpanzee (Troglodytes niger), one of the 

 highest of the anthropoid or more manlike apes, 



