49 2 Of the Management of Fires 



of experiments from the results of which I have 

 acquired new light in respect to it. 



In fitting up a large shallow circular kitchen boiler 

 (one of those I put up in the kitchen of the house 

 formerly occupied by the Board of Agriculture), I made 

 an experiment which, though it appeared to me at the 

 time to have succeeded perfectly, led me into an error 

 that afterwards caused me a great deal of embarrass- 

 ment. I constructed the fire-place of the boiler of a 

 peculiar form for the express purpose of burning the 

 smoke; imagining that if I could succeed in that at- 

 tempt I should not only get more heat from any given 

 quantity of coals, but also that the narrow horizontal 

 canal that carried off the smoke from the fire-place to 

 the chimney would be much less liable to be choked 

 up by soot or dust. The fire-place was made rather 

 longer than usual ; and near the farther end of it there 

 was a thin piece of fire-stone, placed edgewise, which 

 run quite across it from side to side, a space being left 

 about z\ inches wide between the lower edge of this 

 stone and the bars of the grate, while the bottom of the 

 boiler reposed on its upper edge. 



From this description it is evident that the flame of 

 the burning fuel, after rising up and striking against 

 that part of the bottom of the boiler which was situated 

 over the hither part of the fire-place, must necessarily 

 pass under the lower edge of the stone just mentioned, 

 in order to get into the canal leading to the chimney ; 

 and I fancied that, by taking care to keep that narrow 

 passage constantly occupied by red-hot coals, the smoke 

 being forced to pass through between them would nec- 

 essarily take fire and burn. This actually happened; 

 and, when I left a small opening in the door of the fire- 



