and the Economy of Fuel. 71 



Bavarian weight) of peas-soup in one of these boilers, 

 43 Ibs. of dry beech-wood were required as fuel, and 

 that the process lasted four hours and a half. This 

 gives 0.483 of a pound of wood for each pound of the 

 soup. 



In the first arrangement of this kitchen, only 0.3 of 

 a pound of wood was required to prepare i Ib. of soup. 

 Hence it appears that the kitchen had not been im- 

 proved, considered with a view to the economy of 

 fuel, by the alterations which had been made in 

 it. This was what I expected ; for the object I had in 

 view in constructing this kitchen was not to save fuel, 

 but to find out how much of it is wasted in culinary 

 processes, as they are commonly performed on a large 

 scale in hospitals and other institutions of public char- 

 ity. Till I knew this, it was not in my power to esti- 

 mate, with any degree of precision, the advantages of 

 any improvements I might introduce in the construc- 

 tion of kitchen fire-places. 



To determine in how far the quantity of fuel neces- 

 sary in any given culinary process depends on the form 

 of the fire-place (the boiler and every other circum- 

 stance remaining the same), I made the following ex- 

 periments. 



Experiments Nos. 7 and 8. Two of the iron boil- 

 ers in the kitchen of the House of Industry (which, as 

 they were both cast from the same model, were as near 

 alike as possible) being chosen for this experiment, one 

 of them (No. 8) being taken out of the brick-work, its 

 fire-place was altered and fitted up anew on improved 

 principles. The grate was made circular and concave, 

 and its diameter was reduced to 1 2 inches ; the fire- 

 place was made cylindrical above the grate, and only 



