COUNTRY MANSIONS. 



349 



m the description of a place, or in its plan on paper, yet, in its actual working 

 (so to speak) by the occupier, they are important items. The difFerence 

 between a bad arrangement of fences and walks, and a good one, may 

 occasion the opening of a gate or gates fifty times a day, instead of five times; 

 increasing the risk of admitting cattle, pigs, or poultry, where they ought not 

 to be admitted, in a corresponding ratio. 



422. The kitchen offices when detached from the house. — In designing these, 

 it is of more importance to bear in mind general principles, than to adhere to 

 particular forms and dimensions. Security from vermin is an essential requi- 

 site in the construction of the floor and walls of every part of a house, and more 

 particularly of those parts where provisions are kept. The power of thorough 

 ventilation of the atmosphere of every apartment, even of the cellars, when 

 requisite, is another desideratum. Light is more or less essential to every 

 office, except the cellars for wines and liquors ; and it is in an eminent degree 

 required for the kitchen, and all those places where food is prepared for the 

 table. A larder, if thoroughly ventilated, may preserve meat without much 

 light; but a pantry requires abundance of light, to insure cleanliness. Light, 

 in the case of meat kept in safes, or in other situations, is unfavourable for the 

 preservation of the meat, as it collects together flies, which are never found 

 in an active state in the dark; and in such cases it ought to be under 

 command ; but, in general, it is much more desirable to have light in excess, 

 than to have a deficiency of it. A command of the temperature is a desidera- 

 tum in the offices of every dwelling, no less than in the living-rooms. Among 

 the first requisites to this are, that of having all the walls, floors, and ceilings 



made of non-conducting materials ; and that of having the ground on which 



the building stands rendered thoroughly dry by underground drainage, and 



by a vacuity all round the outside of the foundation walls. 



423. The stable offices. — In designing these, a recurrence to first principles 



is of equal importance as in arranging the kitchen offices. The ground on 



which a stable or coach-house is built ought to be dry, either naturally or by 



drainage ; and the walls ought to be of sufficient thickness to exclude the 



extremes of heat in summer, and of cold in winter. There ought to be 



abundance of light admitted, as well for cheerfulness as for cleanliness; and, 



independently of the doors and windows, there ought to be suitable openings 



for ventilation. In the stable there 



ought to be a wooden tube, at least 



6 in. square, placed over every stall, 



and reaching from the under surface 



of the ceiling to the ridge of the roof, 



with a cap on the outside to exclude 



rain ; and a slide in the ceiling, at 



the lower end of the tube, to regulate 



the quantity of air admitted, so as to 



keep the atmosphere of the stable at 



about 50° in winter, and from 60" to 



65° in summer. This flue will do for 



the stable of the horse, what the 



chimney-flue does for the dwelling- 

 room of the human being. To give 



a palpable idea of this mode of ven- 



216 



