240 On the Construction of Kitchen 



long time to heat it again, which is a circumstance that 

 renders it very unfit for the use of a poor family. The 

 ovens I have recommended, constructed entirely of thin 

 sheet iron, have the advantage of being heated almost 

 in an instant ; and the heat which penetrates the walls 

 of their closed fire-places, being gradually given off after 

 all the fuel is burned out, keeps them hot for a long time. 

 Care should, however, always be taken to keep these 

 ovens well closed when they are used, and to leave only 

 a very small hole, when necessary, for the escape of the 

 generated steam or vapour. 



For larger families the oven may be made larger in 

 proportion ; or, what will be still more convenient, a 

 nest of two, three, or four small ovens, placed near to 

 each other, may be 'so set in brick-work as to be heated 

 by one and the same fire. 



A nest of four small ovens, set in this manner, was 

 fitted up in the kitchen of the Military Academy at 

 Munich, and found very useful : they were rectangular, 

 each being 10 inches wide, 10 inches high, and 16 inches 

 long; and they were placed two abreast in two rows, 

 one immediately above the other, the sides and bottoms 

 of neighbouring ovens being at the distance of about 

 1 1 inch, that the flame and smoke which surrounded 

 them on every side might have room to pass between 

 them. The fire-place was situated immediately below 

 the interval that separated the two lowermost ovens, at 

 the distance of about 10 inches below the level of their 

 bottoms ; and by means of dampers the flame could be 

 so turned and directed as to increase or diminish the 

 heat in any one or more of the ovens at pleasure. 



These four ovens were furnished with iron doors, 

 movable on hinges, which, in order that they might not 



