148 On the Forcing-houses of the Romans. 



Foemineum lucet sic per bombycina corpus : 



Calculus in nitida sic numeratur aqua. 

 Quid non ingenio voluit natura licere ? 



Autumnum sterilis ferre jubetur hiems. Martial, lib. viii. 68. 



The four last lines of the first epigram are omitted, as 

 having no reference whatever to the subject. 



From these passages, and from that of Pliny, in which 

 he tells us that Tiberius, who was fond of Cucumbers, had 

 them in his garden throughout the year, by means of ( Spe- 

 cular ia ) stoves, where they were grown in boxes, wheeled 

 out in fine weather, and replaced in the nights, or in cold 

 weather,* we may safely infer' that Forcing-houses were not 

 unknown to the Romans, though they do not appear to 

 have been carried into general use. 



Flues, the Romans were well acquainted with ; they did 

 not use open fires in their apartments as we do, but in the 

 colder countries, at least, they always had flues under the 

 floors of their apartments. Mr. Lysons found the flues, and 

 the fire-place from whence they received heat, in the Roman 

 Villa he has described in Gloucestershire; in the Baths also, 

 which no good house could be without, flues were used to 

 communicate a large proportion of heat for their Sudatories, 

 or sweating apartments. 



The article with which their windows were glazed, if the 

 term may be used, was Talk, or what we call Muscovy glass 

 ( Lapis Specularis). At Rome, the apartments of the better- 

 most classes were furnished with curtains (Velaf J to keep 



* Pliny, lib. xix. sect. 23. 



f Ulpian I. Quaesitum 12. The Romans also made transparent bee hives of 

 the same material. Pliny, lib. xxi. sect. 47. 



