Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/308

 28i COTTAGE, FARM, AND VILLA ARCHITECTURE. hollow vessel b, of boiler plate iron, into which two pipes are inserted to produce circula- tion between the water in it and that in the apparatus shown in figs. 524, 525, and 526. The vessel b receives constantly that portion of the licat which would otherwise be dissipated in the brickwork of the back and sides of the fireplace, and transmits it to a hollow vessel, fig. 524, enclosed in a cast-iron casing with doors, as shown in fig. 525, which may form ^ a 1 II at one time an oven or hot closet, and at another a water or steam bath : the tem- perature of either of these, however, can never be higher than 212°, unless oil be used. The upper surface of this case will be useful for culinary purposes, most operations of which require but a moderate heat. Fig. 526 shows the top of the water-bath, with holes at one end for inserting sauce- pans, &c. ; and with a hot plate at the other. This double- cased vessel is easily and cheaply made of boiler plates. Over the fireplace is another vessel, also formed of boiler plates, fig. 522, a, the water in which is heated by that heat which generally escapes up the chimney, to the amoimt of fialf that evolved by the fuel. The flue passes in a circuitous route, c c, and the ordinary flue receives the smoke at d ; but if the smoke passed oflf by the dotted lines e e, more heat would be given out, though in that case soot doors would be necessary in the chimney breast, opposite the angles of the flues, to admit of cleaning them. This boiler or vessel will lieat part, or the whole, of the cottage, according to its sire ; it will supply hot water for culinary or other purposes ; and when the vessel 6 is not in use, the heat of a may be greatly increased by opening the cock m, which will permit circulation to take place between the upper and lower vessels. The vessel a is supplied with water by a small cistern and ball pipe g, bent to prevent circulation, and sunk into the wall of the chimney ; a. I 527 simple smoke-jack may be placed over the opening of the flue, c, as shown at h in fig. 527; and a door of iron should be fixed in the breast of the chimney, a little higher up, as shown in the same figure at i, in order to get at the boiler at any time, and to sweep the chimney. Fig. 527 shows the elevation of the grate, which has a common crane, k, for hanging pots on ; and two hinged cast-iron doors, I I, to turn back against the wall ; by closing which the fire may be at any time intensely urged, and thus the water made to boil in both vessels in a few minutes (the cock m being open). By these means a bath may be procured in a very short time in any part of the house or cottage. Of course many modifications and applications of this Design are jiracticable ; such as heating a conservator)' or a poultry-house, hatching eggs, steaming fodder for cattle, &c. ; all of which may be readily conceived and executed by any practical engineer accustomed to direct works in iron. cock, f, connected by the