146 



THE PRODUCTION AND USE OF HEAT 



and potatoes were roasted in the coals upon the hearth. 

 Meats were generally roasted ,by being suspended by means 

 of a cord or wire before the fireplace. In order that the 

 meat be made to roast evenly it had to be turned almost 

 constantly. This was usually a child's task in the private 

 family. In many inns, where much meat had to be roasted, 

 it was often mounted upon a SPIT, or sharp- 

 ened stick of wood, in such a manner that 

 it could be kept turning constantly, often 

 by means of a tread mill operated by a dog. 

 Figure 107 shows an ingenious device used 

 in the London Club House, a fashionable 

 hotel in London. The fire was built on a 

 series of grates standing in front of a 

 wrought-iron water heater. Before- the 

 several grates were horizontal spits upon 

 which the meats to be roasted were placed. 

 These spits were caused to revolve by the 

 "smoke jack/' a small metal wind mill 

 mounted in the chimney flue. 



One of the most frequently used utensils 

 for cooking was the REFLECTOR. It was a 

 semi-cylindrical box made of bright tin and so 

 mounted that it lay upon one side (Fig. 108). Generally it 

 was equipped with a grate-like shelf upon which the meat 

 could be placed, the juices dripping through into the bottom 

 of the reflector below. The reflector was placed upon the 

 hearth before the fire and was used, not only for cooking meat, 

 but for baking as well. A modified form of the reflector is 

 shown in Fig. 109. A coiled spring in the box on the top of 

 the reflector was wound up. The uncoiling of the spring was 

 regulated by a sort of clock work. As the spring uncoiled, it 

 revolved the spit upon which the joint of meat was mounted. 

 The old BRICK OVEN built into the side of the fireplace, Fig. 

 64, is known to every one, and has a permanent place in our 

 mental picture of an old-fashioned kitchen. As a matter of 



FIG. 109. A 

 reflector for home 

 use in which the 

 ' ' spit ' ' upon which 

 the joint of meat 

 was mounted was 

 kept constantly 

 revolving by a 

 coiled spring in a 

 box on top of the 

 reflector. 



