burst some day from the water inside freezing, which expands and cracks the pipe, and then as soon as a thaw comes the pipe appears to burst though it was really done in the frost. The only way to prevent this is to enclose them in a wooden box lined with straw or thick felt, or with that extraordinary-looking wool which is made by blowing steam into the slag of iron furnaces, and which is said to be better than anything else for 'jacketing boilers' to keep the heat in, and as a nonconductor of heat generally. It is also incombustible.

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Taps. I have heard a great deal of evidence in parliamentary committees on water bills about the superiority of screwdown' taps over the common ground' ones, i.e. ground in, which always grind loose in time and so leak; and also about the obstinate resistance of plumbers to them, and how they either wilfully or carelessly make them fail by not taking out the leather washer before soldering them on to the pipe, which burns the leather. They can however be made to screw on without any soldering. Autogenous' soldering with lead is in all cases very superior to the common tin and lead solder, which is used because it melts easier; but it expands and contracts differently from the lead, and therefore cracks in time. They are also made of better metal than the common ground taps; what is called tap brass is notoriously the worst of any. Screw taps also have the advantage of not stopping the flow of water quite suddenly, which tends to burst pipes, and will even make water rise far above the level of its head, as in the 'hydraulic ram,' where a stream of water forces some of itself up hill to supply houses far above. There does not seem yet to be invented an entirely satisfactory tap which will close of itself when the hand is taken off, and many a flooding of rooms

takes place for want of it. A servant opens a tap and no water comes because there is none there; the tap is left open and in a few hours the water comes in,' and of course goes out on to the floor and probably destroys the ceiling under it. There is a kind of screw tap which professes to close of itself after a few minutes, but I am not satisfied that it will keep in that condition long. A weighted lever valve tap answers perfectly, but is large and ugly. It would be easy to make a tap with a spiral spring, which would keep it closed except when it is held open. Such a tap should have a long handle.

Water-closets. I cannot say that I think a perfect one is yet invented. Bramah's original 'valve' closet, i.e. with a valve at the bottom of the basin, is the best in all respects but one; that you are never sure that a bit of paper will not stick in the valve, which forthwith drains off all the water. The old valve tap at the cistern worked by bell wires and cranks is quite superseded by better contrivances near the seat. I think Underhay's the best, which has a lever tap, such as I mentioned just now, prevented from falling suddenly and so stopping the water too soon, by a piston descending in a nearly airtight cylinder. This is equally applicable to a valve' or a 'basin' closet, or to any other kind, of which there are several. It is superfluous to say now that WCs without an external window are most objectionable, at least unless they can have a divided ventilating tube up to the top of the house with each division not less than 4" square. This is independent of the question of a pipe from the trap to discharge sewer gases constantly, which are more dangerous though often less perceptible than the ordinary smell for which the external ventilation is required. The window should be anywhere rather than behind the

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seat-a very favourite position for it-as it is disagreeable to keep it open there, except in hot weather. Some people think it necessary to provide another sink for slops,' which always smells worse than the W C, because that is easily and frequently flushed with clean water and a sink is not. For W Cs in cottages and the inferior parts of a house, and for any outdoor ones, the common sanitary basin' (as it is absurdly called) without any machinery underneath, is quite sufficient, working merely by a syphon trap, but supplied with water. In fact, where the water supply is worked by a spring treadle, I consider that the least troublesome of any; but the female mind cannot be persuaded that it is sufficiently elegant for the inside of a house. I must add that the perverted ingenuity of giving a spiral motion to the water entering the basin is a complete mistake, for it destroys the force of the water and makes it wash the basin worse instead of better. earth closets I have nothing particular to say. They doubtless answer very well where the earth can be conveniently supplied and is regularly attended to.

Of

Hot water. Many people are not satisfied now-adays unless they can get hot water on the upper floors, and most people have not the smallest idea of the quantity of heat and coals they waste thereby, especially if the work is not done very well-and even if it is. The principle of these upstairs hot-water cisterns is simply this one pipe goes from the upper part of the kitchen boiler to the cistern, and another from somewhat lower in the cistern down to lower in the boiler. Consequently the hottest water, being lightest, is always flowing upwards through the first pipe and downwards through the second. And the same is the case with the much larger pipes which go round a

house or a large room to warm it. The result is that the fire is being continually cooled by the carrying off of all that heat with the water; and if the upper cistern is large it is in effect a large cooling tank in the roof of the house, carrying the heat from the kitchen fire into the roof. A bath room with such a cistern in it is kept hot continually at the cost of the kitchen fire. And the further consequence is that you can never get any really hot water early in the morning under these new-fashioned arrangements, nor until all the water in the roof is boiled.

The proper way to do this manifestly is to carry the waste steam from the boiler, which must go somewhere, into a small cistern upstairs instead of up the chimney and let it heat the water, as it soon will. It is however liable to the objection that it is apt to make a noise when it is going into the water strongly, which is heard in the neighbouring rooms; though that is not likely to happen either very early or very late. There are some other difficulties or alleged ones, as to the feeding of the boiler, for fear the steam should blow backwards into the small feeding cistern which there always is by the side. But all that may be easily overcome by any one with the proper knowledge who will take the trouble. But architects and builders and workmen and servants of all kinds, who do not want to do anything new, can always find or make such difficulties in it that a man who has not time to superintend his own domestic science had better leave it alone, especially if it is anything requiring continued attention. But even the common plan of circulating hot water admits of right and wrong ways of doing it. First, the upper cistern should be as small as will do for ordinary use, so as to waste as little heat as possible. Secondly, all hot

Mode of circulating it.

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water taps should be on the rising pipe, which has the hottest water, and not the falling one which has the returned colder water; and much less on an independent pipe, in which the water will be always cool until a pipe-full is drawn off. Thirdly, there should be two boilers to the kitchen fire, the second being for kitchen use only with the ordinary steam waste-pipe into the chimney. This is recognised by good builders. It must be remembered too that on this system the water in the circulating boiler is always at the high pressure, due to the height of the upper cistern above it; and therefore there is more risk of leakage and of accidents, for the water and steam under high pressure become hotter. It is necessary in every case to keep a boiler pretty full, or it will very soon burn away either under high or low pressure; a high pressure one of course will be quite full if there is any water in the cistern above. steam pipe must have no downward bends or inverted syphons in its course, or water will condense and lodge there and obstruct the steam of ordinary pressure. Steam pipes and even hot water pipes which have to go far are best wrapped in thick felt or something of that kind, which I mentioned at p. 193, except when they are for warming the air.

A

Warming by hot water is the favourite plan with most people for warming churches and halls. But the ugliness of the pipes above ground is a serious objection to it, and also the mess from occasional leakages, which cannot be prevented. If the pipes are under a grating a great proportion of the heat is wasted by being sent into the ground. It is some improvement on that to make the pipes hemispherical, with the flat side upwards, and widened out into a kind of per