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BOOK XII.

mud, although some may be made of stones or bricks. When of brick theyare often sixteen feet high, and if the roof rises twenty-four feet high, thenthe walls which are at the ends must be made forty feet high, as likewisethe interior partition walls. The roof consists of large shingles four feet long,one foot wide, and two digits thick; these are fixed on long narrow planksplaced on the rafters, which are joined at the upper end and slope in oppositedirections. The whole of the under side is plastered one digit thick withstraw mixed with lute ; likewise the roof on the outside is plastered oneand a half feet thick with straw mixed with lute, in order that the shedshould not run any risk of fire, and that it should be proof against rain, andbe able to retain the heat necessary for drying the lumps of salt. Each shedis divided into three parts, in the first of which the firewood and straw areplaced ; in the middle room, separated from the first room by a partition, isthe fireplace on which is placed the caldron. To the right of the caldron isa tub, into which is emptied the brine brought into the shed by the porters ;to the left is a bench, on which there is room to lay thirty pieces of salt.In the third room, which is in the back part of the house, there is made a pileof clay or ashes eight feet higher than the floor, being the same height as thebench. The master and his assistants, when they carry away the lumps ofsalt from the caldrons, go from the former to the latter. They ascend fromthe right side of the caldron, not by steps, but by a slope of earth. At thetop of the end wall are two small windows, and a third is in the roof, throughwhich the smoke escapes. This smoke, emitted from both the back and thefront of the furnace, finds outlet through a hood through which it makesits way up to the windows; this hood consists of boards projecting onebeyond the other, which are supported by two small beams of the roof.Opposite the fireplace the middle partition has an open door eight feet highand four feet wide, through which there is a gentle draught which drives thesmoke into the last room ; the front wall also has a door of the same heightand width. Both of these doors are large enough to permit the firewood orstraw or the brine to be carried in, and the lumps of salt to be carried out;these doors must be closed when the wind blows, so that the boiling willnot be hindered. Indeed, glass panes which exclude the wind but transmit thelight, should be inserted in the windows in the walls.

They construct the greater part of the fireplace of rock-salt and of claymixed with salt and moistened with brine, for such walls are greatlyhardened by the fire. These fireplaces are made eight and a half feet long,seven and three quarters feet wide, and, if wood is burned in them, nearlyfour feet high ; but if straw is burned in them, they are six feet high. Aniron rod, about four feet long, is engaged in a hole in an iron foot, whichstands on the base of the middle of the furnace mouth. This mouth is threefeet in width, and has a door which opens inward; through it they throwin the straw.

The caldrons are rectangular, eight feet long, seven feet wide, and half afoot high, and are made of sheets of iron or lead, three feet long and of thesame width, all but two digits. These plates are not very thick, so that the