1ally by that of Oleander. Broad flat Veſſels
full of Water ſet about the Floor are dangerous
Traps for Fleas that take their Leaps too da
ringly. Moths are driven away by Worm
wood, Aniſe-ſeed, or the Smell of the Herb
Savin: Nay we are told, that Cloaths are ſafe
from them ſo long as they hang upon Ropes. But
upon this Subject we have dwelt long enough,
and perhaps longer than a very grave Reader
may like; but he will pardon it, if he con
ſiders, that what we have ſaid may be of ſome
Service for ridding a Situation of Inconvenien
cies, and that all is little enough againſt the
inceſſant Plague of theſe intolerable Vermin.
full of Water ſet about the Floor are dangerous
Traps for Fleas that take their Leaps too da
ringly. Moths are driven away by Worm
wood, Aniſe-ſeed, or the Smell of the Herb
Savin: Nay we are told, that Cloaths are ſafe
from them ſo long as they hang upon Ropes. But
upon this Subject we have dwelt long enough,
and perhaps longer than a very grave Reader
may like; but he will pardon it, if he con
ſiders, that what we have ſaid may be of ſome
Service for ridding a Situation of Inconvenien
cies, and that all is little enough againſt the
inceſſant Plague of theſe intolerable Vermin.
CHAP. XVI.
Of making a Room either warmer or cooler, as alſo of amending Defects in
the Walls.
the Walls.
I now return to my Subject. It is a
wonderful Thing, that if you cover a Wall
with Hangings woven of Wool it will make
the Room warmer, and if they are of Flax,
colder. If the Platform be damp, dig Pits
and Drains under it, and fill them up either
with Pumice-ſtone or Gravel, to prevent the
Water from rotting in them. Then ſtrew
the Ground with Coal to the Height of one
Foot, and cover that with Sand or rather
with Tiles, and over all this lay your Floor.
It will be all to no Purpoſe if there is Room
for the Air to paſs under the firſt Pavement
or Floor. But againſt the Heat of the Sun in
Summer, and the Severity of the Cold in Win
ter, it will be of very great Service, if the Soil
thereabouts in general is not damp but dry.
Under the Area of your Parlour dig away the
Earth to the Depth of twelve Foot, and then
floor it with nothing but naked Boards; the
Space beneath which is floored only with Plai
ſter will make the Air in your Parlour much
cooler than you would imagine, inſomuch that
you ſhall find it make your Feet cold even
when your Shoes are on, nothing being over
the ſubterraneous Pavement but plain Boards.
The Ceiling of this Parlour ſhould be arched;
and then you will be ſurprized how warm it
will be in Winter and how cold in Summer.
If you are troubled with the Inconvenience
which the Satyriſt complains of the Noiſe of
Carriages paſſing through a narrow Street, to
gether with that of the rough Language of
their bruitiſh Drivers, ſo dreadful to the poor
Man in his ſick Bed; Pliny the younger tells
us, in one of his Epiſtles, how to prevent this
Diſturbance, in the following Words. Next
to this Room lies the Chamber of Night and
of Repoſe, in which was never heard the Voice
of Servants, nor the hollow Murmur of the Sea,
nor the Crack of Tempeſt, nor can you here
perceive the Gleam of Lightening, nor even
the Light of the Sun, unleſs you open the
Windows, ſo retired is the Place. The Reaſon
is, that there is a Lobby between this Cham
ber and the Garden, in which intermediate
Space all the Sounds are loſt, let us now come
to the Walls. The Defects in theſe are as fol
lows; either they ſcale off, or they crack, or
the Ribs give Way, or they lean from their
Perpendicular. The Cauſes of theſe Defects
are various, and ſo are their Remedies. Some
of the Cauſes indeed are manifeſt, others more
concealed, ſo that often we know not what
Remedies to apply, till we have ſeverely felt
the Miſchief. Others are not in the leaſt ob
ſcure; but then perhaps the Negligence of
Men makes them inclined to hope that they
may not do ſo much Hurt as they certainly
will do. The manifeſt Cauſes of Defects in
the Wall are, when it is too thin, when it is
not well knit together, when it is full of im
proper dangerous Apertures, or laſtly, when it
is not ſufficiently ſtrengthened with Ribs
againſt the Violence of Storms. Thoſe Cauſes
which happen unexpected or unforeſeen, are
Earthquakes, Lightening, the Inconſtancy of
the Foundation, and indeed of Nature itſelf.
But in ſhort, the greateſt Injury to all Parts
of a Building is the Negligence and Heedleſſ
neſs of Men. A certain Author ſays, that a
Weed is a ſecret Battering-ram againſt a Wall;
nor is it to be believed what vaſt Stones I have
myſelf ſeen removed and puſhed out of their
Places by the Force, or indeed by the Wedge
of a little Root that grew between the Joints;
which if you had only pulled out while it was
young, the Work would have been preſerved
from that Injury. I greatly commend the
Ancients, who kept a Number of People in
wonderful Thing, that if you cover a Wall
with Hangings woven of Wool it will make
the Room warmer, and if they are of Flax,
colder. If the Platform be damp, dig Pits
and Drains under it, and fill them up either
with Pumice-ſtone or Gravel, to prevent the
Water from rotting in them. Then ſtrew
the Ground with Coal to the Height of one
Foot, and cover that with Sand or rather
with Tiles, and over all this lay your Floor.
It will be all to no Purpoſe if there is Room
for the Air to paſs under the firſt Pavement
or Floor. But againſt the Heat of the Sun in
Summer, and the Severity of the Cold in Win
ter, it will be of very great Service, if the Soil
thereabouts in general is not damp but dry.
Under the Area of your Parlour dig away the
Earth to the Depth of twelve Foot, and then
floor it with nothing but naked Boards; the
Space beneath which is floored only with Plai
ſter will make the Air in your Parlour much
cooler than you would imagine, inſomuch that
you ſhall find it make your Feet cold even
when your Shoes are on, nothing being over
the ſubterraneous Pavement but plain Boards.
The Ceiling of this Parlour ſhould be arched;
and then you will be ſurprized how warm it
will be in Winter and how cold in Summer.
If you are troubled with the Inconvenience
which the Satyriſt complains of the Noiſe of
Carriages paſſing through a narrow Street, to
gether with that of the rough Language of
their bruitiſh Drivers, ſo dreadful to the poor
Man in his ſick Bed; Pliny the younger tells
us, in one of his Epiſtles, how to prevent this
Diſturbance, in the following Words. Next
to this Room lies the Chamber of Night and
of Repoſe, in which was never heard the Voice
of Servants, nor the hollow Murmur of the Sea,
nor the Crack of Tempeſt, nor can you here
perceive the Gleam of Lightening, nor even
the Light of the Sun, unleſs you open the
Windows, ſo retired is the Place. The Reaſon
is, that there is a Lobby between this Cham
ber and the Garden, in which intermediate
Space all the Sounds are loſt, let us now come
to the Walls. The Defects in theſe are as fol
lows; either they ſcale off, or they crack, or
the Ribs give Way, or they lean from their
Perpendicular. The Cauſes of theſe Defects
are various, and ſo are their Remedies. Some
of the Cauſes indeed are manifeſt, others more
concealed, ſo that often we know not what
Remedies to apply, till we have ſeverely felt
the Miſchief. Others are not in the leaſt ob
ſcure; but then perhaps the Negligence of
Men makes them inclined to hope that they
may not do ſo much Hurt as they certainly
will do. The manifeſt Cauſes of Defects in
the Wall are, when it is too thin, when it is
not well knit together, when it is full of im
proper dangerous Apertures, or laſtly, when it
is not ſufficiently ſtrengthened with Ribs
againſt the Violence of Storms. Thoſe Cauſes
which happen unexpected or unforeſeen, are
Earthquakes, Lightening, the Inconſtancy of
the Foundation, and indeed of Nature itſelf.
But in ſhort, the greateſt Injury to all Parts
of a Building is the Negligence and Heedleſſ
neſs of Men. A certain Author ſays, that a
Weed is a ſecret Battering-ram againſt a Wall;
nor is it to be believed what vaſt Stones I have
myſelf ſeen removed and puſhed out of their
Places by the Force, or indeed by the Wedge
of a little Root that grew between the Joints;
which if you had only pulled out while it was
young, the Work would have been preſerved
from that Injury. I greatly commend the
Ancients, who kept a Number of People in
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