Page:Of the Gout - Stukeley - 1734.djvu/110

Rh introduc'd, were it only to show our taste in Architecture. Amidst the affected imitations of antient temples, obeliscs, columns, theaters, &c. why should not the very delightfulness of the thing have tempted them to build baths, if there were no respect to the healthful part of it? And how easy might they be supply'd with hot water in countrys where coals are cheap; which is half the island? Here is latitude enough to show a taste, to mix ornament and use. Very commendable is the publick charity of the easterns, in building Baths for publick use. Some of our charitably dispos'd people that are at a loss how to dispose of their money, would do well to imitate it. To assist them therein I shall present the reader with a plate to show the method of the Romans in building their hypocausts.

For this purpose they made certain bricks, hollow like conduit pipes, but square, about a foot long. They are open at both ends, and likewise have an equal square aperture in two opposite sides. These bricks too have a shoulder at each end, so as that they may joint commodiously into the sides of their neighbours, and receive the ends of other bricks into their sides. When they are dispos'd in the manner that I have represented, upon a floor, and the joints well cemented: 'tis Rh