548 Account of Experiments 



proper management have been generated, in the com- 

 bustion of the coal, was lost, owing to the bad construc- 

 tion of the boiler and o^ the fire-place. 



Had the construction of the boiler and of the fire- 

 place been as perfect as they were in my experiments, 

 a quantity of fuel would have been sufficient, smaller 

 than that actually used, in the proportion of 6| to 40I, 

 or, instead of 450-2- lbs. of coal, 7 if lbs. would have done 

 the business ; and, instead of costing 35-. 2\d., they would 

 have cost less than (i\ct. Irish money, or ^\d. sterling, 

 which is only about \ per cent of the cost of the in- 

 gredients used in preparing the food, for the expense of 

 fuel for cooking it. 



These computations may serve to show that I did 

 not exaggerate when I gave it as my opinion (in my^ 

 Essay on Food) that the expense for the fuel necessary 

 to be employed in cooking ought never to exceed, even 

 in this country, two per cent of the value of the in- 

 gredients of which the food is composed ; that is to 

 say, when kitchen fire-places are well constructed. 



Had the ingredients used in this experiment — viz., 

 2234 lbs. of water, 161 5 lbs. of potatoes, 98 lbs. of but- 

 ter, 14 lbs. of onions, 40 lbs. of salt, i lb. of pepper, and 

 -2- lb. of ginger, making in all 399 2 2- lbs. — been made into 

 a soup, instead of being made into calecannon, this, at 

 \\ lb. (equal to one pint and a quarter) the portion, would 

 have served to feed 3210 persons. 



But if I can show, that in Ireland, where all the coals 

 they burn are imported from England, a good and suffi- 

 cient meal of victuals for 3210 persons may be provided 

 with the expense of only ^\d. for the fuel necessary to 

 cook it, I trust that the account I ventured to publish in 

 my first Essay, of the expense for fuel in the kitchen of the 



