CHIMNEY

CHIMNEY, a particular part of a house well known, which Professor Beckmann has, in our opinion, proved to be an invention comparatively modern. It would be very unfair dealing in us to give even a large abstract of one of the most curious dissertations of a curious book, which has been but lately published, and thereby injure the interest of him to whom the native of Britain is indebted for the pleasure of perusing it in his own tongue. No man, however, can blame us for here stating, in support of our own opinion, the professor's answer to the passage of Ferrari, which we have quoted under the word CHIMNEY in the Encyclopaedia.

"When the triumvir, says Appian *, caused those who had been proscribed by them to be fought for by the military, some of them, to avoid the bloody hands of their persecutors, hid themselves in wells, and others, as Ferrarius translates the words, in sumaria sub tecto, qua scilicet sumus a tecto evoluitur (A). The true translation, however, (says Mr Beckmann) is famosa canacula. The principal persons of Rome endeavoured to conceal themselves in the smoky apartments of the upper story under the roof, which, in general, were inhabited only by poor people; and this seems to be confirmed by what Juvenal † expressly says, Rarus venit in canacula ‡ Sat. x. v. 27.

"Those passages of the ancients which speak of smoke rising up from houses, have with equal impropriety been supposed to allude to chimneys, as if the smoke could not make its way through doors and windows. Seneca ‡ writes, 'Last evening I had some friends with me, and on that account a stronger smoke was raised; not such a smoke, however, as bursts forth from the kitchens of the great, and which alarms the watchmen, but such a one as signifies that guests are arrived.' Those whose judgments are not already warped by prejudice, will undoubtedly find the true sense of these words to be, that the smoke forced its way through the kitchen windows. Had the houses been built with chimney-funnels, one cannot conceive why the watchmen should have been alarmed when they observed a stronger smoke than usual arising from them; but as the kitchens had no conveniences of that nature, an apprehension of fire, when extraordinary entertainments were to be provided in the houses of the rich for large companies, seems to have been well founded; and on such occasions people appointed for that purpose were stationed

stationed in the neighbourhood to be constantly on the watch, and to be ready to extinguish the flames in case a fire should happen. There are many other passages to be found in Roman authors of the like kind, which it is hardly necessary to mention; such as that of Virgil†,

Et jam summa procul villarum culmina fumant.

and the following words of Plautus*, descriptive of a miser:

Quia divum atque hominum clamat continuo fidem,
Suam rem periisse, seque eradicari,
De suo tigillo fumus si qua exit foras.

In the Vespe of Aristophanes, referred to in the Encyclopædia, old Philocleon wishes to escape through the kitchen. Some one asks, "What is that which makes a noise in the chimney?" "I am the smoke (replies the old man), and am endeavouring to get out at the chimney." This passage, however (says the professor) which, according to the usual translation, seems to allude to a common chimney, can, in my opinion, especially when we consider the illustration of the scholastics, be explained also by a simple hole in the roof, as Reiske has determined; and indeed this appears to be more probable, as we find mention made of a top or covering† with which the hole was closed.

In the Encyclopædia we have said, that the instances of chimneys remaining among the ruins of ancient buildings are few, and that the rules given by Vitruvius for building them are obscure; but we are now satisfied that there are no remains of ancient chimneys, and that Vitruvius gives no rules, either obscure or perspicuous, for building what, in the modern acceptance of the word, deserves the name of a chimney.

The ancient mason-work still to be found in Italy does not determine the question. Of the walls of towns, temples, amphitheatres, baths, aqueducts, and bridges, there are some though very imperfect remains, in which chimneys cannot be expected; but of common dwelling houses none are to be seen, except at Herculaneum, and there no traces of chimneys have been discovered. The paintings and pieces of sculpture which are preserved, afford us as little information; for nothing can be perceived in them that bears the smallest resemblance to a modern chimney.

If there were no funnels in the houses of the ancients to carry off the smoke, the directions given by Columella, to make kitchens so high that the roof should not catch fire, was of the utmost importance. An accident of the kind, which that author seems to have apprehended, had almost happened at Beneventum, when the landlord who entertained Mæcenas and his company was making a strong fire in order to get some birds sooner roasted.

ubi sedulus hospes

Pene arsit, macros dum turdos versat in igne;

Nam vaga per veterem dilapso flamma culinam

Vulcano summum properabat lambere tectum†.

Had there been chimneys in the Roman houses, Vitruvius certainly would not have failed to describe their construction, which is sometimes attended with considerable difficulties, and which is intimately connected with the regulation of the plan of the whole edifice. He does not, however, say a word on this subject; neither