82 
MODIFICATION OF POLMAISE HEATING. 
We read of very low degrees of heat under the action of the genuine " Polmaise" 
apparatus ; but by the machinery in question, about four o'clock in the afternoon of 
the 2nd of March, the maximum temperature of the air being about 40°, that of 
the house was read off from a self- registering " Six" thermometer, at above 65°, 
and that too under the action of the first fire, lighted only three hours before. 
This was extraordinary, as has also been the subsequent progress of the plants. So 
complete, in all it parts, is the furnace, the flue from its entrance to its final exit, 
and the circulation of renewed air, that, while no part is hot or oppressive, the utmost 
equability of high temperature, (we saw it at 80° in the third week of March,) is 
regularly maintained. Little else is burnt than small cinders called "breeze" — 
obtained by screening the ashes bought for the farmers — and very small coke. The 
fire is found alight every morning, and is kept on all day without trouble. 
When it is considered that the burning fuel is of so low a character, and that 
combustion is supported by the air which passes from the house into the ash-pit, it 
will be evident that a great effective and economical plan has been discovered, and 
brought into permanent operation. 
But another circumstance of practical utility yet remains to be described : the 
house required soft water, and this was to be obtained by rain only. There were no 
conveniences for the admission of tanks, and the proprietor determined to have a 
quantity within the vinery. He therefore ordered his workmen to make a zinc 
cistern, which was, for the convenience of approach, to be placed upon, or just above, 
the diagonals en and ex. Into this cistern the rain which should fall from the glass 
roof was to be conveyed by zinc channels fixed along the entire front, and connected 
with a tube that passed down to the ground, entered the house below and beyond th 
door, and then rose to within two inches of the top of the cistern, where it was con- 
nected, by an adapting brass screw, with the tube that was soldered into the cistern. 
The workmen declared that no supply could be so obtained ; however, the plan w 
adopted, and the first smart shower filled the cistern to overflow. Additional spac 
was required ; therefore, a second cistern was put up at the outside corner, where 
the supply tube makes it fall from the front gutters, 
It only remains to give an outline of the charming erection, which combines so 
many advantages. It faces nearly due south ; the back rests upon a low party wi 
about five feet high ; all above that is glass, consisting of light, swing, uprigh 
sashes made to act with perfect facility by the means of ropes and pulleys, governe 
by regulating weights ; the house, therefore, is well lighted behind, and its slope i 
commanding, but not steep. The south front consists of a three-foot wall, on which 
rests a curb and a series of sashes, moving by means of hinges fixed on the plate 
close under the roof-lights ; and these are made to open to any required extent by 
curved catches of iron, pierced with holes at different distances. The sides are 
glazed also, so that the four aspects command all the sun that can by possibility 
reach the building. 
Everything has succeeded ; and therefore we may be permitted to hope that this 
