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question only is, whether the air shall be let in through
a proper basement inlet, or shall be sucked in through dirty
crevices. If air be not admitted by counter-currents from
somewhere, then the chimneys smoke. If air be admitted
by a skylight, a cold draught falls down into the staircase,
while all the warm air of the honse at once flows out into
the atmosphere.
4. The principle of providing proper inlets for air to
the fireplaces being realised, a word must be added as
to the motive-power which produces the necessary current
in the air. In winter, with fires alight, the moving force
is given by the heat of the fire. But in concert-rooms,
theatres, and large workshops, at times when fires do not
give movement, mechanical force must be used. Here the
best motor is an electric vane, and this is set in or out of
motion as easily as an electric lamp is switched on or off.
Such vane drives air at will out of the room, or into it,
and at any rate that may be required. This means of
mechanical ventilation answers perfectly for all ordinary
houses or workshops. If these principles are duly regarded,
there is no difficulty in securing perfect and
uniformly acting ventilation for every workshop and for
every room in any house. But the ventilation, to be
effective, must be continuous; and, when fires are not
alight, movement must be obtained by mechanical force—
unless doors and windows are freely open.
PERMANENT IMPROVEMENTS.
Among the changes which have taken place in the
southern part of St. James's, I have to record the construction
of the Carlton Hotel—one of the most splendid
of the modern stone buildings of London. This hotel has
been erected at a cost of some half a million sterling, and
in expectation of surpassing all other hotels in London.
It is undoubtedly a great improvement to St. James's, and,
among other benefits, it has swept away the last portion
of the old arched corridors, while it has considerably
widened the vista and opened up the atmospheric effect