By the Rev. George: Swayne 251 



way. When let down it was pressed close to the wall by 

 means of a bar ; and then covered the whole of the furnace 

 and ash-hole beneath, air tight 



The next thing was to secure the other extremity, the 

 chimney, which being topped with a chimney-pan, I had only 

 to get a moveable cover to fit the latter. Here, I could not, 

 on account of the exposure to the weather, well dispense with 

 the use of some metal, and therefore had an iron cap made 

 for the pan, with a loop on its summit, a standard of the same 

 metal was fixed in a stone beneath, on the top of which a 

 cross bar traversed on an axis (in the manner of a weighing 

 beam), with a hook on one end, on which the cap was hung. 

 From the other end, which was nearly balanced by a leaden 

 weight, a wire was appended which reached to the fire-place, 

 in the shed, by means of which the cover was moveable on and 

 off at pleasure. To render this cover air tight, as well as to 

 obviate the conducting quality of the iron, it was lined with 

 thick woollen cloth. 



The management of this machinery is as follows ; towards 

 the evening, i. e. between seven and eight o'clock, the fire 

 (not a large one) is made to burn briskly, for about half an 

 hour. When it has burnt clear, the slate is drawn down and 

 fixed to its place, with the bar ; in a few seconds, the cover is 

 let down on the top of the chimney; in this state they are 

 both suffered to remain till eight o'clock the next morning, 

 at which time the slate is drawn up to its place over the fur- 

 nace ; the ashes stirred out from amongst the cinders (or 

 rather the charred coals) left in the grate over night, which 

 should be done with a wooden stick, for the better preservation 

 of the iron-w r ork. and the ash-hole beneath cleansed of its 

 contents. Then, and not before, for a reason to be mentioned 



