found, except in the single instance already mentioned, that a perfect cure may be effected by these means alone, even in the most desperate cases. It is true, that when the construction of the Chimney is very bad indeed, or its situation very unfavourable to the ascent of the smoke, and especially when both these disadvantages exist at the same time, it may sometimes be necessary to diminish the opening of the Fire-place, and particularly to lower it, and also to lower the throat of the Chimney, more than might be wished: but still I think this can produce no inconveniences to be compared with that greatest of all plagues, a smoking Chimney.

The position of the throat of a Chimney being determined, the next points to be ascertained are its size and form, and the manner in which it ought to be connected with the Fire-place below, and with the open canal of the Chimney above.

But as these investigations are intimately connected with those which relate to the form proper to be given to the Fire-place itself, we must consider them all together.

That these inquiries may be pursued with due method, and that the conclusions drawn from them may be clear and satisfactory, it will be necessary to consider, first, what the objects are which ought principally to be had in view in the construction of a Fire-place; and secondly, to see how these objects can best be attained.

Now the design of a Chimney Fire being simply to warm a room, it is necessary, first of all, to contrive matters so that the room shall be actually warmed; secondly, that it be warmed with the smallest expence of fuel possible; and, thirdly, that in warming it, the air of the room be preserved perfectly pure, and fit for respiration, and free from smoke and all disagreeable smells.

In order to take measures with certainty for warming a room by means of an open Chimney Fire, it will be necessary to consider how, or in what manner, such a Fire communicates heat to a room. This question may perhaps, at the first view of it, appear to be superfluous and trifling, but a more careful examination of the matter will show it to be highly deserving of the most attentive investigation.

To determine in what manner a room is heated by an open Chimney Fire, it will be necessary first of all to find out, under what form the heat generated in the combustion of the fuel exists, and then to see how it is communicated to those bodies which are heated by it.

In regard to the first of these subjects of inquiry, it is quite certain that the heat which is generated in the combustion of the fuel exists under two perfectly distinct and very different forms. One part of it is combined with the smoke, vapour, and heated air which rise from the burning fuel, and goes off with them into the upper regions of the atmosphere; while the other part, which appears to be uncombined, or, as some ingenious philosophers have supposed, combined only with light, is sent off from the fire in rays in all possible directions.

With respect to the second subject of inquiry; namely, how this heat, existing under these two different forms, is communicated to other bodies; it is highly probable that the combined heat can only be communicated to other bodies by actual contact with the body with which it is combined; and with regard to the rays which are sent off by burning fuel, it is certain that they communicate or generate heat only when and where they are stopped or absorbed. In passing through air, which is transparent, they certainly do not communicate any heat to it; and it seems highly probable that they do not communicate heat to solid bodies by which they are reflected.

In these respects they seem to bear a great resemblance to the solar rays. But in order not to distract the attention of my reader, or carry him too far away from the subject more immediately under consideration, I must not enter too deeply into these inquiries respecting the nature and properties of what has been called radiant heat. It is certainly a most curious subject of philosophical investigation, but more time would be required to do it justice than we now have to spare. We must therefore content ourselves with such a partial examination of it as will be sufficient for our present purpose.