vast continent of the New World; and Missolonghi surrendered under, similar circumstances, notwithstanding the heroism of its defenders. Though the process which I have recommended for extracting gelatine is generally the best, circumstances may render the old method necessary; and fortresses should consequently be provided with crushing-machines and digesters. The chemical process, for instance, would be impracticable where the acid could not be obtained; neither could it be used without abundance of water, for the purpose of washing away the acid from the animal texture, which is an operation indispensably necessary. In order to avoid all misconception, I beg distinctly to state, that what I propose is not intended as a substitute for other and better provisions, but merely as a precautionary sustenance, to which garrisons may have recourse when other means are exhausted. It has been objected, that the gelatine of bones is insipid, and, consequently, disagreeable; but it may be rendered savoury by means of different substances, which are easily procured, such as salt, spices, and vegetables. It must also be remembered, that man, exposed to famine, is not so particular with regard to his nourishment; as is proved by many instances of garrisons, which have been fed on substances the most insipid, unpalatable, and disgusting. As a proof of this, a circumstance may be mentioned, related to me by General Rapp, which took place during the last siege of Dantzic:-that the French, when they had eaten horses, rats, and dogs, had recourse at last to broth made of old planks,-a dish, not merely unpalatable, but devoid of all nutritious matter. The remaining portion of M. de Gimbernat's communication, which will appear in our ensuing number, is dedicated to the friends of the Greeks. It impresses the necessity of the utmost economy of provisions, and points out several important applications of the process above described, by which the author hopes that the surrender of fortresses, in consequence of famine, may become a circumstance of comparatively rare oc currence. 62 Hints respecting the Construction of Warm-Baths. WARM BATHS have lately come into very general use, and they are justly considered as indispensably necessary in all modern houses of any magnitude, as also in club-houses, hotels, and hospitals. But the mode of constructing these baths, and of obtaining the necessary supplies of hot and cold water, does not appear to me to have undergone an improvement equal to the extension of their employment; I trust, therefore, you will not consider a few pages of your journal misapplied to a subject, which I think materially affects the health and comfort of the community, and upon which a variety of erroneous and conflicting opinions are extant. The several points which I propose briefly to touch upon, in regard to warm baths, relate, 1. To the materials of which they are constructed, 2. To their situation, 3. To the supply of cold water, 4. To the supply of hot water, 5. To minor comforts and conveniences. 1. As to the materials of which they are constructed.-Of these the best are slabs of polished marble, properly bedded with good water-tight cement, in a seasoned wooden case, and neatly and carefully united at their respective edges, These, when originally well-constructed, form a durable, pleasant, and agreeable-looking bath; but the expense is often objectionable, and in upper chambers the weight may prove inconvenient. If of white or veined marble, they are also apt to get yellow or discoloured by frequent use, and cannot easily be cleansed; so that large Dutch tiles, as they are called, or square pieces of white earthenware, are sometimes substituted, which, however, are difficultly kept watertight; so that, upon the whole, we recommend marble. Where there are reasons for excluding marble, copper or tinned iron plate are the usual materials resorted to. The former is most expensive at the outset, but far more durable than the latter, which is, moreover, liable to leakage at the joints, unless most excellently made. Either the one or the other should be well covered outside and in, with several coats of paint, which may then be marbled, or otherwise ornamented, as taste suggests. Wooden tubs, square or oblong, and oval, are sometimes used for warm baths, and are cheap and convenient, but neither elegant nor cleanly: the wood always contracts a mouldy smell; and the difficulty and nuisance of keeping them water-tight, and preventing shrinkage, is such as to exclude them from all except extemporaneous application. 2. As to the situation of the bath; or the part of the house in which it is to be placed.-In hotels and club-houses, this is a question easily determined: several baths are usually here required, and each should have annexed to it a properlywarmed dressing-room. Whether they are up stairs or down stairs is usually a mere question of convenience, but the basement story, in which they are sometimes placed, should always be avoided; there is a coldness and dampness belonging to it, in almost all weathers, which is not agreeable. In hospitals, there should be at least two or three baths on each side of the house (the men's and women's), and the supply of hot water should be ready at a moment's notice. The rooms in which the baths are placed should be light, and comparatively large and airy, and such conveniences for getting into and out of the bath should be adopted as the sick are well known to require. The dimensions of the baths should also be larger than usual. In private houses, the fittest places for warm baths are dressing-rooms annexed to the principal bed-rooms; or where such convenience can be obtained, a separate bath-room, connected with the dressing-room, and always upon the bedroom floor. All newly-built houses should be properly arranged for this purpose, and due attention should be paid to the warming of the bath-room, which ought also to be properly ventilated. A temperature of 70° should be easily kept up in it, and sufficient ventilation is absolutely requisite, to prevent the deposition of moisture upon the walls and furniture. The objection which formerly prevailed, in respect to the difficulty of obtaining adequate supplies of water in the upper rooms, has been entirely obviated, by having cisterns at or near the top of the house; and we would just hint that these should be so contrived as to be placed out of the reach of frost—a provision of the utmost importance in every point of view, and very easily effected in a newly-built house, though it unfortunately happens that architects usually regard these matters as trifles, and treat them with neglect, as indeed they do the warming and ventilation of buildings generally. 3. The supply of water, of proper quality and quantity, is a very important point, as connected with the present subject. The water should be soft, clean, and pure, and as free as possible from all substances mechanically suspended in it. In many cases, it answers to dig a well for the exclusive supply of a large house with water: in most parts of London, this may effectually be accomplished, at a comparatively moderate expense; and if deep enough, the water will be abundant, soft, and pellucid. The labour of forcing it by a pump to the top of the house is the only drawback; this, however, is very easily done by a horse-engine; or there are people enough about town glad to undertake it at a shilling a-day. I am led to these remarks by observing the filthy state of the water usually suplied, at very extravagant rates, by the water companies. It often partakes more of the appearance of pea-soup than of the pure element; fills our cisterns and pipes with mud and dirt; and even when cleared by subsidence is extremely unpalatable. It deposits its nastiness in the pipes connected with warm baths, and throws down a slippery deposite upon the bottom of the vessel itself, to such an extent as often to preclude its being used, at least as a luxury, which a clear and clean bath really is. This inconvenience may in some measure be avoided, by suffering the water to throw down its extraneous matters upon the bottom of the cistern, and drawing our supplies from pipes a little above it; there will, however, always be more or less deposite in the pipes themselves, and every time the water runs into the cistern the grouts are stirred up, and diffused through its mass this, from some cause or other, with which I am unacquainted, has lately become a most intolerable grievance ; and he who reflects upon the miscellaneous contents of Thames water, will not have his appetite sharpened by a draught of the Grand Junction beverage, nor feel reanimated and refreshed by bathing in a compound so heterogeneous and unsavoury. Let us, however, to cut this matter short, suppose that we have plenty of pure cold water to deal with, and proceed to our most essential topic, namely, the best mode of heating it in the quantity required. 4. and 5. In public bathing-establishments, where numerous and constant baths are required, the simplest and most effective means of obtaining hot water for their supply consists in drawing it directly into the baths from a large boiler, placed somewhere above their level. This boiler should be supplied with proper feeding pipes and gauges; and above all things, its dimensions should be ample: it should be of wrought-iron or copper, except where sea-water is used, in which case the latter metal is sometimes objectionable; but my remarks are at present intended to apply to fresh-water baths only. The hot water should enter the bath by a pipe at least an inch and a half in diameter, and the cold water by one of the same dimension, or somewhat larger, so that the bath may not be long in filling. The relative proportions of the hot and cold water are, of course, to be adjusted by a thermometer; and every bath should have a twoinch waste pipe, opening about eight inches from the top of the bath, and suffering the excess of water freely to run off, so that when a person is immersed in the bath, or when the supplies of water are accidentally left open, there may be no danger of an overflow. Where there is a laundry in the upper story of the house, or other convenient place for erecting a copper and its appurtenances, a plan similar to the above may often be conveniently adopted in private houses for the supply of a bath upon the principal bed-room floor. An attempt is sometimes made to place boilers behind the fires of dressing-rooms, or otherwise to erect them in the room itself, for the purpose of supplying warm water-but this plan is always objectionable, from the complexity of the means by which the supply of water is furnished to the boiler, and often dangerous from the flues becoming choaked with soot and taking fire; steam is also apt in such cases to escape in quantities into the room, so that it becomes necessary in many cases to search for other methods JAN.-MARCH, 1827. F |