Fire-places and Kitchen Utensils. 211 



the combustion of the fuel might act upon them to the 

 greatest advantage ; but it is to be remembered that to 

 each of these fire-places there are other shallower boilers 

 that are used occasionally, which do not appear in these 

 plans. There is, however, one advantage attending deep 

 boilers, to which it may in some cases be useful to pay 

 attention ; and that is, that they economize space in a 

 kitchen. And when their fire-places are properly con- 

 structed, and, above all, when they are furnished with 

 good registers and dampers, the additional quantity of 

 fuel they will require will be too trifling to be considered. 

 The walls of their fire-places will absorb more heat in 

 the beginning ; but who knows but that the greater part 

 of this heat may not afterwards be emitted in rays, and 

 at last find its way into the boiler? I could mention 

 several facts that have lately fallen under my observation, 

 which seem to render this supposition extremely prob- 

 able. This, however, is not the proper place to give an 

 account of them. 



As I have said that no fire has yet been made in the 

 open chimney fire-place of the kitchen I am describing, 

 it may, perhaps, be asked how this kitchen is warmed 

 in cold weather. To this I answer, that it has been found 

 that the mass of brick-work is made sufficiently hot by 

 the fires that are kept up in it when cooking is going 

 on every day to keep the room comfortably warm in 

 the coldest weather. 



This answer will probably give rise to another ques- 

 tion, which is, how we contrive to prevent the room 

 from being much too warm in summer. By opening 

 one of the windows a very little, and by opening at 

 the same time the register of a wooden tube or steam- 

 chimney, which, rising from the ceiling of the room, 



