and of oltaining- supplies of water and of warm air. 297 



without stopping to warm their limbs or their fingers. — The Rus- 

 sians adopt a still more coarse manner of warming themselves, with- 

 out any apparent inconvenience -, owing (as is well known) to their 

 practice in this respect being counteracted by their vapor baths, by 

 great peculiarities in their diet, and by their occasional access to pure 

 atmospherical air, and perhaps by other circumstances in their habits 

 not yet explained to us. — The French have stoves, (called poeles,) 

 which admit of some little circulation of air ; but the flue which car- 

 ries away the smoke belonging to them, often requires to be guarded 

 with the utmost attention, to prevent accidents from fire. These 

 stoves, when formed of pottery with short flues, seem not unhealthy ; 

 and the vapor of hot water is thought to lessen this mischief, when they 

 have bodies of iron and long iron flues. — In the London Philosophical 

 Transactions, an account is given of stoves, as used by some of the Chi- 

 nese. — In Capt. Cook's Third Voyage, (3,374,) we find, that the na- 

 tives of Kamtschatska have a pit in the earth, roofed with turf, (rest- 

 ing on wood work,) for their winter habitation, with an open fire- 

 place, and a vent above to let out the smoke ; and they have like- 

 wise a summer habitation, raised from the ground, and resting on 

 poles : a refinement, not known to some of their pretended superi- 

 ors in civilization. — As the several contrivances mentioned in this 

 paragraph are not in general suited to the manners of the inhabitants 

 of the United States, who are for the most p^rt attached to open f re- 

 places and brick chimnies, they call for no farther details here. 



But it is time to conclude this part of my communication, by re- 

 ferring to what is necessarily, Sir, familiar to you ; namely, to the 

 fact, that since the first formation of man, there never was so urgent 

 a necessity for establishing good architectural principles, as exists at 

 the present moment in this country ; whether we have in view beau- 

 ty, or the still more important objects o( safety, convenience and com- 

 fort, connected as these are with ultimate economy. The executive 

 department of the federal government, while attending to these obvi- 

 ous points of its duty, will have the farther satisfaction of knowing, 

 that whatever useful measures it can introduce in these respects into 

 its proceedings, will not only have a happy influence on the citizens 

 of this great Union, but not improbably attract attention from the 

 great States which are now forming themselves in what is to be called 

 a new world. I have the honor to be, with particular respect, 



Sir, your very obedient servant, 



Vol. XXV.— No. 2. 38 ' 



