Fire-places and Kitchen Utensils. 471 



door-way into the ash-pit. It is of cast iron, and its 

 opening in front is 7-4- inches wide and 3! inches high. 

 It is concealed in the brick-work in such a manner that 

 its front edge only is seen, projecting about J of an 

 inch before the brick-work. 



When the register-stopper belonging to this door- 

 way (which is shown in this figure) is pushed quite 

 home, its flat plate comes into contact with the front 

 edge of the door-way, and closes the passage into the 

 ash-pit so completely that no air can enter. By with- 

 drawing this stopper more or less, more or less air is 

 admitted. The narrow, thin, elastic bands of iron, the 

 ends of which are fastened by rivets to the flat plate of 

 the stopper, serve to confine the stopper in any situ- 

 ation in which it is placed, which service they are 

 enabled to perform (in consequence of their elasticity 

 and of their peculiar shape) by pressing against the 

 sides of the door-way. 



The only objection that I am acquainted with to this 

 kind of register for the door-way of the ash-pit of a 

 small closed fire-place is that it is not quite so easy to 

 see the precise state of the register as it is when the 

 air is admitted through a hole in the front of the ash- 

 pit door in the usual manner; but this objection is of 

 no great importance, especially as means may easily be 

 devised to remedy that trifling defect. 



The door- way frames to all the closed fire-places in 

 my own kitchen are in all respects like that repre- 

 sented in the foregoing figure (Fig. 91), with this differ- 

 ence only, that they are 5 inches high instead of being 

 3! inches in height. An account has already been given 

 of the manner in which their stoppers were con- 

 structed. 



