and the Economy of Fuel. 25 



construction of the kitchen in the House of Industry 

 above described, even without the help of a plan or 

 drawing of it. That in the Military Academy was 

 constructed upon a different principle. Instead of 

 heating all the boilers from one and the same fire- 

 place, almost every boiler had its own separate fire- 

 place ; and though the boilers were all furnished with 

 double covers, similar to those made use of in the 

 kitchen of the House of Industry, yet there was no 

 attempt made to recover the heat carried off by the 

 steam, but it was suffered to escape without hindrance 

 into the atmosphere; it having been found, by the 

 experiments made in the kitchen of the House of 

 Industry, that when the fire is properly managed, that 

 is to say, when the heat is but just sufficient to keep the 

 liquid boiling hot, or very gently boiling, the quantity 

 of steam generated is inconsiderable, and the heat carried 

 off by it not worth the trouble of saving. Each fire- 

 place was furnished with an iron grate, upon which the 

 wood was burnt ; and the opening into the fire, as well 

 as that which communicated with the ash-pit, had in 

 each its separate iron door. 



Finding afterwards that the iron door which closed 

 the opening by which the wood was introduced into 

 the fire-place was much heated, and consequently that 

 it caused a considerable loss of heat by communicating 

 it to the cold atmosphere with which it was in contact ; 

 in order to remedy this evil without incurring the ex- 

 pense of double doors, the iron door was removed, and 

 in its stead was placed a hollow cylinder, or rather 

 truncated cone, of burnt clay or common earthen ware, 

 which cone was 4 inches long, 6 inches in diameter 

 internally, and 8 inches in diameter externally, at its 



