14 
FIRES WITHOUT SMOKE. 
medium of diffusible heat. If then every grate were constructed with a thick 
plate of iron in front of the bars, so as to leave a space of from five to ten inches 
between them and the door, it is plain that, when once that plate was heated to 
redness, and the coal thrown upon it, it must be acted upon by the hot iron, and 
made progressively to yield up its gaseous products ; which, passing over the 
bright fire upon the bars, would become ignited. In the Remarks on Fuel, at page 
186, there is the following passage : " A grate so constructed contains the ignited fuel 
in the part open to the ash-pit (that is, it lies upon the bars, through which the 
air from beneath rushes) ; the solid plate next the door being destined to receive 
the cold fuel, which thus is gradually acted upon by the hot iron from below, and 
by the heat reflected from the brick- work above it, till it gives forth a stream of 
gas, which, passing over the burning mass beyond it, becomes inflamed, and raises 
a great heat." We repeat this passage, because we are certain that, although pre- 
pared to admit the impossibility of perfectly producing pure inflammable gas 
without a retort, the plan which we adopt combines all the requisites of greatly- 
improved and economical fire work. 
The efficiency of the apparatus is just in proportion to the degree of heat 
required ; but all depends upon the principle of pushing forward towards the neck 
of the flue, the red, or rather white, hot fuel, and of always casting the cold fresh 
coals upon the heated plate, so as to induce distillation. Small grates in greenhouses, 
where perhaps one hour's fire may suffice, will afford no evidence of the feasibility 
of the operation ; but large furnaces, wherein a constant fire is maintained, will 
demonstrate the correctness of our views. 
Let the amateur weigh these suggestions, and compare the cost of a furnace so 
simple with that of some others, which, after an outlay of forty or fifty pounds, 
have led to nothing but failure and disappointment. 
But we have reached our limits, and have said nothing of a method of heating 
the houses of large establishments, which will assuredly remove, or rather obviate, 
the smoke nuisance effectually. As it is, we will defer our observations a month 
longer, hoping by the delay to acquire a more extensive knowledge of facts which 
may convert our expectations to certainty. Our readers then must excuse us if we 
prefer to say nothing more till we can give a detail of the matter in full, rather 
than to garble or curtail it. Suffice it to observe, that we believe one single furnace 
would do the work of any dozen, and with a comparative reduction of fuel. 
