a room on fire or full of smoke, it is 

 advisable to go on the hands and knees, 

 as there will nearly always be a current 

 of pure air close to the floor ; and, as far 

 as practicable, the man who goes first 

 should have both hands free, and the 

 second man should be the one to carry 

 the branch ; and here it may be well to 

 add that, under ordinary circumstances, 

 no mau should ever proceed alone into 

 a room on fire or full of smoke. 



Having approached the Fire and 

 seen what is actually burning, the next 

 thing will be to pour on the water in a 

 sustained and steady stream and with 

 the utmost possible force. The resis- 

 tance of the atmosphere to a stream of 

 water being very considerable, it is 

 obvious that the best result will be 

 obtained by carrying the branch as near 

 as possible to the Fire, and thus 

 diminishing the length of the stream 

 exposed to this resistance. 



Fire is extinguished by water, only 

 when the latter is poured on so rapidly 

 and in such abundant quantities as to 

 form a coating or layer over the burning 

 material and thus exclude the air, 

 without which Fire cannot exist ; and, 

 if the stream be not sufliciently sus- 

 tained and rapid to effect this purpose, 

 it will be of little avail in extinguishing 

 the Fire. It must therefore always be 

 remembered that the branches should 

 be brought as near to the Fire as 

 possible, in order that the water may 

 strike the burning mass with the 

 greatest possible force. 



The pouring of water from the 

 ground level into upper windows is on 

 almost all ordinary occasions (except 



