USEFUL ABTS. 



CHAPTER IX. 



ARTIFICIAL WARMTH.— RING AND STAPLE.— THE FAN. 



Various Modes of warming Houses. — The Fire of the American Indian and the 

 Kafir. — The Oil-lamp of the Esquimaux. — The open Fireplace and 

 Chimney Stoves. — The laminated Stove and its Powers. — Gills of the 

 Lohster, Crab, and various Fishes. — Mode in which the Gills act. — Why- 

 Fishes lie with their Heads against the Stream. — Drowning a Fish. — The 

 Ring and Staple, and their various Uses. — Head-bones of the Fishing- 

 frog or Angler- fish. — The Fan and its Modifications. — Japanese and 

 Chinese Fans. — The Feather Fan. — The Palm-leaf. — Indian Fans. — 

 The Hive Bee and its Wings. — Fans of the Essequibo and South Sea 

 Islanders. — The Fan Fire-guard. — Antennae of the Cockchafer. — Burial. — 

 Various Modes of disposing of the Dead. — Ordinary Habits of dying 

 Animals. — Dead Insects. — The Funeral-ant and its wonderful Habits. 



Artificial Warmth. 



PASSING- from the direct to the indirect comforts of a house- 

 hold, we will take Artificial Warmth. 



The savage, as a matter of necessity, makes a fire in the 

 middle of his hut, and lets the smoke have its own way. 

 Sometimes, as is the case with the North American Indians, 

 the top of the conical hut is open, and the whole edifice is a 

 single chimney of large dimensions, something like the 

 "chimney-corner" of past days, which only survives in such 

 places as the New Forest. 



Then there are the various Kafir tribes of Southern Africa. 

 They nave no aperture in their huts except the tiny doorway, 

 which can only be entered on hands and knees. But they must 

 have their fire. No argument can persuade them that they had 

 better make their fire and cook their flood outside the hut. So 

 the wood-smoke fills the hut, coats it with a lining of soot, and 

 gets out as it can through the sticks and wishes of which the 

 simple edifice is built. 



