i88o.] 
Fog Lore. 
769 
heat increases. Secondly, the warmed streets would occa- 
sion a current of air ; and, thirdly, the decrease in the 
consumption of coal would greatly reduce the production of 
smoke. That this project, if it could be carried out in 
London, would put an end to the existing coal monopoly 
might be even a greater benefit than the abolition of fog. 
Still, even if it could be demonstrated that an inexhaustible 
store of hot water existed at an accessible distance under- 
ground, we do not suppose that it would ever be utilised in 
the metropolis. 
We have yet to consider the schemes for attacking fog by 
reducing the quantity and altering the nature of the fuel 
consumed. Here again we are tantalised by seeing things 
perfectly feasible from a physical point of view rendered im- 
practicable by social peculiarities. All engineers who have 
studied the application of heat will tell us that at least three- 
fourths if not more of the warmth generated by the fuel 
consumed in ordinary English houses is simply, wasted. 
Hence it would seem a very trifling matter to economise three- 
fourths of the coal employed, thus ridding the atmosphere of 
three-fourths of the smoke and soot-flakes, and rendering 
London a far more pleasant and sightly place of abode. But 
there is a barrier which cannot be broken Our dwellings 
are built for the open stove system, and cannot be altered 
without considerable outlay. Upon whom is this charge to 
fall ? The tenant can scarcely be expe&ed, in addition to over- 
coming the English prejudice in favour of an open fire, to sink a 
serious amount of money in modifying premises in which he 
has, in a vast majority of cases, only a brief and doubtful 
interest. The landlord, so far from bearing the expense, 
would probably not allow the alteration without an under- 
taking on the part of the occupier to restore the old open 
grate on the determination of the tenancy.. 
The very same considerations show the injustice and the 
cruelty of applying, as some have proposed to do, the Smoke 
Consumption A6t to private houses. To the so-called work- 
ing classes and to the poorer proportion of the middle class, 
who together form much more than half the population, such 
a decree would mean little less than ruin. 
Another suggestion is to prohibit the use of bituminous 
coal, and to require, in its stead, the use of anthracite. This 
change could scarcely be effected without a serious rise in 
the preposterous prices now charged for fuel in London. At 
present the railway companies substantially refuse to carry 
coal save for a seledt circle of of individuals. But if only one 
coal-field, i.e., that of South Wales, and one railway were 
3 C2 
