General Notices. 27 



smith, and another at Henderson's in the Edgware Road, both of which we 

 have examined ; and we must say, that we were gratified far beyond ex- 

 pectation at the simplicity of the apparatus, and the complete manner in 

 which it burned the smoke. At Mr. Lee's, the furnace is applied to flues 

 which never before had a good draught, but now draw as well as the best 

 hot-house flues. At Mr. Henderson's, one furnace has supplied the place 

 of three. To convince some gentlemen present that the smoke was effec- 

 tually burned, Mr. Chanter (the present proprietor of the patent) had two 

 top tiles taken off the flue in Mr. Henderson's pine-stove, when, instead of 

 smoke, nothing but a warm moist vapour was felt, so totally without smell, 

 that it might have been admitted to fili the atmosphere of the house with- 

 out any injury to the plants.* 



These advantages, taken together with a saving of 30 per cent in fuel 

 (clearly proved by other experiments), leave no doubt in our minds that 

 this furnace will soon be substituted for every other in hot-houses, whe- 

 ther these may be heated by hot water, steam, or common flues. The 

 improvement will not serve as a substitute for the mode of heating by hot 

 water ; but it will lessen the expense of that mode, by the saving of fuel 

 and of labour in attendance. 



We look upon the burning of the smoke as an immense advantage ; 

 whether we regard the plants in gardens where there are numerous hot- 

 houses, or the atmosphere of towns, in coal countries, all over the world. 

 M. d'Arcet of the French mint, who lately resided some weeks in London, 

 found by prepared paper tests, which he pinned every morning to his hat 

 before he went out, that the atmosphere of the metropolis contained a 

 considerable proportion of sulphuric acid, undoubtedly diffused in it by 

 the coal smoke. By the use of Witty's furnace, both in public and private 

 establishments, in all cases in which close fires are or can be employed, such 

 as in boiling water, or in heating ovens, stoves, or hot plates for French 

 cooking, &c. &c, a small proportion of this sulphuric acid would be got 

 rid of, and turned to account as fuel. As these furnaces admit of making 

 more coal into coke than it is necessary to use in them, every family that 

 had one for any close fire might, while that fire was at work, coke as 

 much more coal as would serve for burning in all the open fires in the 

 house. It is easy to see that, in this way, coal smoke might be got rid of 

 altogether, both in town and country. Here would be an end at once to 

 climbing boys and smoky chimneys. Wherever a family had occasion to 

 use constantly one of Witty's furnaces, they might easily coke in it as 

 much coal as would supply half a dozen open fires. Every country gentle- 

 man that has hot-houses will be henceforth inexcusable, as a man of' taste, if 

 a particle of smoke be seen issuing either from his gardens or his house. In 

 Birmingham, Manchester, and Liverpool, there need not, in future, be the 

 slightest difficulty in getting rid of smoke entirely. (See Vol. VII. p. 524.) 

 In short, it only wants time and a little authority from the legislature, to 

 banish coal smoke entirely from every part of the British empire, and to 

 leave the architecture of our towns as pure as that of the towns on the 

 Continent. The great beauty of ail this is, that it will be attended by 

 a great saving both to individuals and to the public, besides contributing 

 to health, comfort, and humanity. Were this not the case, we should not 

 for a moment contemplate the idea of legislative interference. — Cond. 



A great Improvement in the Construction of Boilers of every Description 

 has just been made by Mr. Perkins, the celebrated engineer ; and, as it is 



* Mr. Tomalin, one of the gentlemen present, whom we know to be a 

 good practical chemist, writes thus : — " On the two tiles being removed, 1 

 carefully examined it: not the least odour was at all perceptible, and nothing 

 found but a copious and perfectly sweet vapour or steam, quite free from 

 bitumen or smoke, and of" an excessively high temperature." 



