438 On the Construction of Kitchen 



This little fire-place, which is better calculated for 

 wood or for turf than for coals, is represented filled 

 with fire-wood ready to be kindled, and a dotted circu- 

 lar line shows where the bottom of the circular hoop 

 of sheet iron (in which the pan is suspended) should 

 be set down upon the top of the three bricks which are 

 uppermost. 



If, in constructing this fire-place, its walls be made 

 higher by using nine bricks instead of six (laid down 

 flat upon one another by threes), and if a few loose 

 pebbles or stones of any kind, about as large as hens' 

 eggs, be put into it under the fuel, these additions will 

 improve it considerably. The fuel being laid upon 

 these pebbles instead of lying on the hearth or on the 

 ground, the air necessary for its combustion will the 

 more readily get under it, which will cause the fire to 

 burn brighter and more heat to be generated. 



These small stones will likewise serve other useful 

 purposes. They will grow very hot, and when they are 

 so they will increase the violence of the combustion 

 and the intensity of the heat; and, even after the fuel 

 is all consumed, they will still be of use by giving off 

 gradually to the pan the heat which they will have 

 imbibed. 



Savages, who have few implements of cookery, make 

 great use of heated stones in preparing their food ; and 

 civilized nations would do wisely to avail themselves 

 oftener than they do of their ingenious contrivances. 



I have already mentioned that a considerable saving 

 of fuel was made in consequence of furnishing the broad 

 and shallow boilers of the Bavarian soldiers with double 

 covers ; but for boilers of this kind, that are destined 

 for poor families, I would recommend wooden or earthen 



