146 ICE-HOUSES. [No, 



of becoming damp, except from water actually put 

 upon it ; and it can, at the same time, be placed on a 

 roof, and on sides, to such a degree of thickness as 

 to exclude the air in a manner the most perfect. The 

 ice-house ought, therefore^ to be made of posts, plates, 

 rafters, laths, and straw. The best form is the cir- 

 cular; and the house, when made, appears as I have 

 endeavoured to describe it in Fig. 3 of the plate. 



241. FIG. 1, c, is the centre of a circle, the diame- 

 ter of which is ten feet, and at this centre you put 

 up a post to stand fifteen, feet above the level of the 

 ground, which post ought to be about nine inches 

 through at the bottom, and not a great deal smaller at 

 the top. Great care must be taken that this post be 

 perfectly perpendicular ; for, if it be not, the whole 

 building will be awry. 



242. bbb are fifteen posts, nine feet high, and six 

 inches through at the bottom, without much tapering 

 towards the top. These posts stand about two feet 

 apart, reckoning from centre of post to centre of post, 

 which leaves between each two a space of eighteen 

 inches, cccc are fifty-four posts, five feet high, and 

 five inches through at the bottom, without much 

 tapering towards the top. These posts stand about 

 two feet apart, from centre of post to centre of post, 

 which leaves between each two a space of nineteen 

 inches. The space between these, two rows of posts 

 is four feet in width, and, as will be presently seen, 

 is to contain a wall of straw. 



243. e is a passage through this wall ; cZis the out- 

 side door of the passage ; f is the inside door; and 

 the inner circle, of which a is the centre, is the place 

 in which the ice is to be deposited. 



244. Well, then, we have now got the posts up ; 

 and, before we talk of the roof of the house, or of the 

 bed for the ice, it will be best to speak about the mak- 

 ing of the wall. It is to be made of straw, wheat- 

 straw, or rye-straw, with no rubbish in it, and made 

 very smooth by the hand as it is put in. You lay it 

 IT?, very closely and very smoothly, so that if the wall 

 were cut across, as at g g, in FIG. 2 (which FIG. 2 



