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From finoke and dull, and there never can be any fleam in 
the room. The furnace for heating it is fimilar to thofe 
tinder coppers or in a hot-houfe; immediately over which, 
before it enters the flue to the clofet, is an iron oven for 
heating the irons. The flue is continued round the bot¬ 
tom of the clofet, and carried up the end of the building. 
The top of the horizontal part of the flue is of call-iron 
plates; iron being a good, and brick a bad, conductor ot 
heat. A few inches above thefe iron plates, the iron rail¬ 
way before-mentioned is laid, between which and the flue 
there is a flooring of wire-work. This prevents any ac¬ 
cident from the cafual falling of linen upon the flues, but 
does not impede the afcent of warm air. Level with the 
rail-way, in'fide the clofet, there is an opening fifteen 
inches fquare, communicating with the external air. The 
ceiling of the clofet is in the form of a hopper, terminat¬ 
ing in a funnel of the fame diameter (fifteen inches) as 
the external air-vent. Both thefe vents are furnilhed 
with a Aiding door, which opens and lliuts, as required, 
by pulley-cords. The principle upon which it a£ts is by 
heating it to a degree fufficient to excite a ltrong evapo¬ 
ration from the wet linen, and carrying off the moifture 
by means of the two vents. During the time of its ac¬ 
quiring this heat, both the vents, and alfo the horfes, are 
kept clofely Unit, lo that the clofet is nearly air-tight. 
As foon as the proper degree of heat is obtained, both the 
vents are to be opened, when a ftrong current of airrulhes 
in at the loweft, carrying up all the vapour from the linen 
through the upper vent or funnel, when the drying will 
be very fpeedily completed. The linen is then removed, 
a frelh fupply put in, and the operation repeated as be¬ 
fore, beginning by clolely lluitting all up. Belides the dif- 
patch and economy attending this walh-houfe and laundry, 
the health and comfort of thofe employed in them are 
greatly promoted, by being entirely free from the perni¬ 
cious effects of damp vapour, and not being incommoded 
by any extra heat in hot weather. 
The gentleman above-mentioned lias alfo conftrudled an 
apparatus for walhing by Jltam ; but this invention is ap¬ 
plicable to v. hjtelinen only, becaufe the operation proves to 
be fo powerful, that it discharges the colour from all dyed 
and printed articles that have been tried with it. We 
fiiall defcribe this invention and procefs in few words. 
At the end of the walh-houfe a Strong iron-boiler is fixed, 
three feet fix inches long, one foot eight inches wide, and 
two feet nine inches deep, with fittings-up the fame as 
thofe for common fleam-engines, viz. a feeding-pipe with 
regulator, a mercury gauge-tube, a three-inch Iteam-tube, 
two obfervation-cocks, a fafety-valve, and a difcharging- 
pipe. From the fleam-tube, a pipe of one half inch bore 
is continued the whole length of the building ; and from 
this main fleam-pipe, others of fmalkr dimenfions, from 
three eighths to three quarters of an inch diameter, are 
laid on the different fteaming-veflels. Thefe fhould be of 
copper; they mud be fitted with a loofe grating infide, 
about Uvo inches from the bottom; a cock at one end, to 
admit the fleam ; and another at the other end, quite at 
the bottom, to difcharge the foul water. The procefs is 
as follows: Soap the linen where it is very dirty, and put 
it to foak ; then place the linen upon the grating in the 
fteam-vefiel; cover it up, and turn on the fleam. The 
difcharging-cock mult be occafionally opened, to draw off 
the condenfed fleam ; and, when it is found to come off 
perfectly dear, which it will do in half an hour, or lefs, 
the operation is finiflied, and the articles will come out 
perfectly clean, and moft beautifully white. By this Am¬ 
ple and eafy procefs, the drudgery of wafliing is entirely 
done away ; and the laving in time, foap, and other ex- 
penfes, is greater than can well be conceived. The fav- 
ing of water in many fituations is a matter of confequence; 
but, what is of (till more importance, the linen will lafi 
double the time it otherwife would do: for, as there is nei¬ 
ther preflure nor friction, it cannot be injured in this pro- 
ceis. Wafliing by fleam has been praflifed, but never be¬ 
fore by this method. The way it lias been done has been 
VOL.XII. No. 831. 
by (learning the linen in thefads. Hence it is evident that 
the filth that is forced out of the linen is mixed with the 
Aids, and is again difperfed equally all through the linen ; 
fo that repeated changes of foap and water mutt be bad re- 
courfe to, before the linen is made thoroughly clean. But, 
by this new procefs, the linen being put into the fteaming- 
veffels, without any other liquor than it retains on being 
taken out of the foaking-tubs, every particle of matter 
which isdiflodged from it inftantly fubfides to the bottom 
of the veflel, and never can again come in contaifl with 
the linen. The boiler above defcribed alfo heats an hot- 
houfe in an adjoining garden, belides boiling a copper ; 
and thus does the work of'fix fires. 
LAU'NITZ, a town of Pruffia, in the palatinate of 
Culm: two miles north-weft of Bretchen, and fifty north- 
eall of Culm. 
LAUNIOWIT'Z, a town of Bohemia, in the circle of 
Kaurzim : ten miles fouth of Benefchow. 
LAUNOY', a town of France, in the department of 
the Ardennes: ten miles fouth-fouth-weft of Mezieres, 
and ten north-north-eaft of Rethel. 
LAUNOY' (John de), a very learned French prieft, and 
voluminous writer, was born at Vatdelie, a village of 
Lower Normandy, two leagues from Valogne, in the year 
1603. He received the early part of his education at 
Conltance; whence he was fent to the univerfity of Paris, 
in which he purlued his lludies with uncommon diligence 
for five or fix years. In the year 1636, he was ordained 
pried, and admitted to the degree of dodtor of divinity 
at the college of Navarre. For the fake of improvement 
he made a journey to Rome, where he became acquainted 
with the moft eminent literary characters, and gained the 
efieem and friendlhip of Holftenius and Leo Allatius. 
After his return to Paris, he contracted an intimacy with 
the molt learned of the clergy, and particularly with fa¬ 
ther Sirmond, who afforded him much alfiftance in his 
inquiries. Every Monday, many of them were accuftomed 
to meet in his apartments, where, as in a kind of acade¬ 
mic fchool, they freely difcufled literary, hiltorical, and 
polemical, topics. Ecclefiaftical difcipline, and the rights 
of the Gallican church, were the frequent fubjeCls of 
their conferences ; and they oppofed, with great fpirit, the 
pretenfions of the court of Rome. They alfo employed 
themfelves in examining and expofing legendary fables 
and pretended canonizations. The million of St. Diony- 
fius the Areopagite into France, the travels of Lazarus 
and Mary Magdalen in Provence, the refurre6tion of the 
canon who converted St. Bruno, and a multitude of other 
traditions, as well as reputed faints, were profcribed at 
this tribunal. He was one of the ableft champions in de¬ 
fence of the privileges of the Gallican church ; but be at¬ 
tacked falfe traditions with great intrepidity ; and con¬ 
tended fo forcibly for expunging the names of feveral 
falfe faints from the calendar, that he was called “the ba- 
nifher of faints.” Vigneuil Marville obferves, that he 
“ was a terrible critic, formidable both to heaven and 
earth. He has expelled a greater number of faints from 
paradife, than ten popes have canonized. He fufpected 
the whole martyrology; and he examined all the faints 
one after another, in the fame manner as they do the no¬ 
bility in France.” The reftor of St. Euftachius’s church 
in Paris ufed to fay: “Wherever I meet M. de Launoy, 
I bow as low as the ground ; and never (peak to him but 
with my hat in my hand, and with the utmoft humility, 
for fear he fhould bereave me of my Saint Eultachius.” 
He alfo wrote againft the fuperftitions and pretended im¬ 
munities of the monks; and lie drew down upon himfelf 
the indignation of the whole order of St. Dominic, by at¬ 
tacking the reputation of Thomas Aquinas. In the af¬ 
fair alio of the celebrated doftor Arnauld, he chofe ra¬ 
ther to be excluded from the Sorbonne, than to lubfcribe 
the cenfure of that doflor, though he did not agree with 
him in opinion on the fubjefl of grace. Me even wrote 
again (l the formulary. By the freedom which he thus ex- 
ercifed in his writings, he provoked againft himfelf a holt 
4 II of 
