FIRE-CLAY AND ANTHRACITE. 315 



forward to about 4 inches from the front inside face of the 

 chimney, thus contracting the throat of the chimney, just 

 behind the mantel, to this small depth (Rumford's device 

 for sweeping need not be here described). The sides or 

 "covings" of this shallowed recess are now to be sloped in- 

 wards so that each one shall horizontally be at an angle of 

 135 deg. to the plane of this new back, and meet it at a 

 distance of six or more inches apart, according to the size 

 of grate required. The covings will thus spread out at 

 right angles with each other, and leave an annular opening 

 to be lined with fire-brick, and run straight up to the 

 chimney. The fire-bars and grate-bottom to be simply let 

 into this as far forward as possible. 



By this simple arrangement we get a fire-grate with a 

 narrow flat back and out-sloping sides ; all these three walls 

 are of fire-brick ; the back radiates perpendicularly across 

 the room ; and the sloping sides radiate outwards, instead 

 of merely across the fire from one to the other, as when 

 they are square to the walls. 



At Rumford's time our ordinary fireplaces were square 

 recesses ; now we have adopted something like his sugges- 

 tion in the sloping sides of our register grates, and we bring 

 our fireplaces forward. We have gone backwards in 

 material, by using iron, but this, after all, may be merely 

 due to the ironmongery interest overpowering that of the 

 bricklayers. The preponderance of this interest in the 

 South Kensington Exhibition may account for the fact 

 that Rumford's simple device was not to be seen in action 

 there. It could not pay anybody to exhibit such a thing, 

 as nobody can patent it, and nobody can sell it. I have 

 seen the Rumford arrangement carried out in office fire- 

 places with remarkable success. To apply it anywhere re- 

 quires only an intelligent bricklayer, a few bricks, and sonic 

 iron bars. 



Although nobody exhibited this, a very near approach to 

 it was described in an admirable lecture delivered at South 

 Kensington, by Mr. Fletcher, of Warrington. In one re- 

 spect Mr. Fletcher goes further than Count Rumford in the 

 application of fire-clay. He makes the bottom of the fire- 

 box of a slab of fire-clay instead of ordinary iron fire-bars. 



