Note 938 — CHIMNEYS.

See also Tavernier, Voyages, vol. i.—Olearius, vol. i.—Schweigger’s Reisebeschreibung nach Constantinopel und Jerusalem, p. 264.—Voyage de Chardin, 12mo, vol. iv. p. 236.—Voyage Littéraire de la Grèce, par M. Guys, Paris, 1776, 2 vols. 8vo, i. p. 34. Because this author is one of the latest who has taken the trouble to compare the manners of the ancient and modern Greeks, I shall here give his account at full length:—“The Greeks have no chimneys in the apartments of their houses; they make use only of a chaffing-dish, which is placed in the middle of the apartment to warm it, or for the benefit of those who choose to approach it. This custom is very ancient throughout all the East. The Romans had no other method of warming their chambers; and it has been preserved by the Turks. Λαμπτὴρ, says Hesychius, was a chaffing-dish placed in the middle of a room, on which dry wood was burned to warm it, and resinous wood to give light. This chaffing-dish was supported, as those at present, by a tripod; lamps were not introduced till long after. To secure the face from any inconvenience, and from the heat of the chaffing-dish, oftentimes dangerous, the tendour was invented. This is a square table under which the fire is placed. It is covered with a carpet which hangs down to the floor, and with another of silk, more or less rich, by way of ornament. People sit around it either on a sofa or on the pavement, and they can at the same time put their hands and their feet under the covering, which, as it encloses the chaffing-dish on all sides, preserves a gentle and lasting heat. The tendour is destined principally for the use of the women, who during the winter pass the whole day around it, employed either in embroidering or in receiving the visits of their friends.”