It was not the hottest fire which was supposed to be the 'most divine. Fierce heat being inimical to organic life, hot fires are said to be hellish ones. Their masters, the demons of drought and sterility, dry up the fountains, scorch the grass, excite pestilence, are the worst fiends to the human race. Pure light was thought to be without any heat at all, and legends tell of "theophanias," of aureoles, of fiery tongues flickering above the cradles of in fants predestined to glorious careers. Phallic fire, giving "qut heat but no light, was often considered as of an inferior nature, and therefore represented by secondary or even by tertiary deities, fauns, satyrs, ægipans, and the like.

At the outset the gods and demons alike had some command of fire, but they were distinguishable by the nature of their fire. Among the Scandinavians, Woden was the fire that shines, Thor the lightning, and Loki the fire that burus and shall one day destroy the whole world; Brahma, Indra, Siwa, and Osiris, Horus, Typhon, had similar mean iugs. Zeus, Apollo, and Athene presided over the celestial flame; Hercules and Dionysus marked the progressive purifications of the terrestrial fire. Besides his influence over generation, Hephaestus had the command of the subterranean fire and of its vast smithies, where earths and stones were fused into metals. It was with a feeling of the most intense awe that the Vedic Aryans contemplated the thunderstorm and the lightning, the fierce struggle in the heavens, the fight between the winds and the clouds, be tween fire and water, between the fire-god Indra and Vritra the fire-dragon. So, likewise, the Iranians conceived of our world as the field of the great battle between Ormuzd the Increaser, and his twin brother Abriman the Destroyer.

Healing and Purification by Fire.—The principle of life being a fiery one, it was supposed that all maladies were only so many defilements of the pure principle which had been darkened by the demons of night, and that all sick people were demoniacs. The traditions of the Finns assert that lightning, the fiery sword of Ukko, slays the demons of illness. But it was discovered that the exhibition of lightning, as a healing method, was attended with grave drawbacks it was impossible to insure being able to use it, and when it could be obtained, the cure was worse than the disease, as the patient was killed before the imp who had bedeviled him. It became necessary to have recourse to a substitute; and therefore the healing virtues of the thunderbolt were embodied in the Keraunia or thunder stones. The "holy stones" of the Anglo-Saxons, or "holed stones," arrow heads, flint celts, and flint knives worked by prehistoric men, were popularly believed to be stones which falling down from heaven possessed heavenly virtues, and were of use in all sorts of disease.1

Sickness having become identified with sin, purification became the first and most esteemed of curative agents and of prophylactics. It needed to be undergone when a dead body had been touched or when women had been delivered. The mother walked with her babe through fires lit on her right band and on her left; the infants, especially the males, were fumigated with great care. Among some populations none could approach mother and child without stepping over a brazier. Fiery ordeals heralded the attainment of the age of puberty by both sexes. Ambassadors were refused admittance to the presence of the sovereign until they had traversed a flame which should singe away the foreign devilries which they might carry about them.

In mild cases the Australian sorcerer applies fire to the injured parts of his patients. The Persians kindle fire on the terraces of their house where the sick man lies. The Patagonians fire off guns and revolvers, and throw burning brands into the air. In Turkestan, sick children are made to leap over burning fires, and are struck seven times on the back. At every stroke remonstrances are addressed to the demon, such as Begone to the sea! Begone to the desert!"

Purification by fire led to the institution of baptism by fire, which in many places was thought vastly superior to baptism by water; and the idea obtained its furthest developinent in the notion of purgatorial fires, which is not peculiar to one church. Often people had misgivings about the penance which awaited them in a future state, and reckoned that it would be better for them to undergo it on this side of the grave.2

Periodic Fires.-Because the sun loses its force after noon, and after midsummer daily shortens the length of its circuit, the ancients inferred, and primitive populations still believe, that, as time goes on, the energies of fire must necessarily decline. Therefore men set about renewing the fires in the temples and on the hearth on the longest day of summer or at the beginning of the agricultural year. Tho ceremony was attended with much rejoicing, banqueting, and many religious rites. Houses were thoroughly cleansed; people bathed, and underwent lustrations and purifications; new clothes were put on; quarrels were made up; debts were paid by the debtor or remitted by the creditor; cri minals were released by the civil authorities in imitation of the heavenly judges, who ware believed to grant on the same day a general remission of sins. All things were made new; each man turned over a new page in the book of his existence. Some nations, like the Etruscans in the Old World, and the Peruvians and Mexicans in the New, carried these ideas to a high degree of development, and celebrated with magnificent ceremonies the renewal of the sacula, or astronomic periods, which might be shorter or longer than a century. Some details of the festival among the Aztecs have been preserved. On the last night of every period (52 years) every fire was extinguished, and men proceeded in solemn procession to some sacred spot, where, with awe and trembling, the priests strove to kindle a new fire by friction. It was as if they had a vague idea that the cosmos, with its sun, moon, and stars, had been wound up like a clock for a definite period of time. And had they failed to raise the vital spark, they would have believed that it was because the great fire was being extin guished at the central hearth of the world. The Stoics and many other. ancient philosophers thought that the world was doomed to final extinction by fire. The Scandinavian bards sung the end of the world, how at last the wolf Fenrir would get loose, how the cruel fire of Loki would destroy itself by destroying everything. Essenes enlarged upon this doctrine, which is also found in the Sibylline books and appears in the Apocrypha (2 Esdras xvi. 15).

The

See Dupuis, Origine de tous les Cultes, 1794; Bournouf, Scicuce des Religions; Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, cap. xx., 1835; Adalbert Kuhn, Die Herabkunft des Feuers und des Gottertranks, 1859; Stemthal, Ueber die ursprungliche Form der Sage von Prometheus, 1861; Albert Reville, Le Mythe de Prométhée," in Revue des Deux Mondes, August 1862; Michel Bréal, Hercule et Cacus, 1863; Tylor, Researches into the Early History of Mankind, chap. ix., 1865; Bachofen, Dic Sage von Tanaquil, 1870 Lubbock, Prehistoric Times, 3d edition, 1872; Haug, Religion of the Parsis,

1878.

Similar practices are still resorted to in mountainous regions of France when illness smites the flocks. In backward districts of Germany, when the swine sicken and die, the "wild fire," or "Noth feuer," is kindled, but it would have no virtue if it were killed by bachelors instead of by married men, or with matches and not by the orthodox, process of rubbing wood against wood.

2 In the hill ranges of Southern India penitents are made to pass through a row of burning huts and are absolved after having passed the seventh. Before seed is sown it is still passed through the fire in Bavaria; and in Basuto land children underwent recently a similar process, being held over the flame of a lighted altar. The earth was freed from the demons of sterilty by lighting huge fires, and the fields became fertile as far as the blaze could be seen distinctly, a practice which still prevails in many places from Norway to Central America,

FIRE is considered in the present article in relation to the destruction by it of life and property. History is full of accounts of the devastation it has caused in the towns and cities of nearly every country of the civilized world. The following list embraces the most memorable of the great fires of which records have been preserved :

GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.

798. London, nearly destroyed.

982. 1086.

1212. 1666.

greater part of the city burned.

all houses and churches from the east to the west gate burned.

greater part of the city burned.

The Great Fire," September 2–6.

It began in a wooden house in Pudding Lane, and burned for three days, consuming the buildings on 436 acres, 400 streets, lanes, &c., 13,200 houses, with St Paul's church, 86 parish churches, 6 chapels, the guild-hall, the royal exchange, the custom-house, many hos pitals and libraries, 52 companies halls, and a vast number of other stately edifices, together with three of the city gates, four stone bridges, and the prisons of Newgate, the Fleet, and the Poultry and Wood Street Compters. The fire swept from the Tower to Temple church, and from the N.E. gate to Holborn bridge. Six persons were killed. The total loss of property was estimated at the time to be £10,730,500.

1794. London, 630 houses destroyed at Wapping. Loss above £1,000,000.

1834. 1861.

1873.

Houses of Parliament burned.

Tooley Street wharves, &c., burned. Loss estimated at £2,000,000.

Alexandra palace destroyed.

1137. York, totally destroyed.

1184. Glastonbury, town and abbey burned.

1292. Carlisle, destroyed.

1507. Norwich, nearly destroyed; 718 houses burned.

1544. Leith, burned.

1000 houses destroyed.

1803. Posen, large part of older portion of city burned.
1811. Forest fires in Tyrol destroyed 64 villages and hamlets
1818. Salzburg was partly destroyed.

1842. Hamburg. A fire raged for 100 hours, May 5-7.

During the fire the city was in a state of anarchy. 4219 buildings, including 2000 dwellings, were destroyed. One-fifth of the population was made homeless, and 100 persons lost their lives. The total loss amounted to £7,000,000. After the fire contributions from all Germany came in to help to rebuild the city.

1861. Glarus (Switzerland), 500 houses burned.

1802. Gothenburg, 178 houses burned.

1858. Christiania. Loss estimated at £250,000.

1865. Carlstadt (Sweden), everything burned except the bishop's residence, hospital, and jail. 10 lives lost.

RUSSIA.

1736. St Petersburg, 2000 houses burned.

1862.

great fire. Loss, £1,000,000. 1752. Moscow, 18,000 houses burned."

1812.

The Russians fired the city on September 14 to drive out the army of Napoleon. The fire continued five days. Nine-tenths of the city was destroyed. Number of houses burned, 30,800. Loss, £30,000,000.

1753. Archangel, 900 houses burned.

1793.

3000 buildings and the cathedral burned.

1786. Tobolsk, nearly destroyed. 1788. Mitau, nearly destroyed. 1812. Riga, partly destroyed. 1834. Tula, destructive fire.

1848. Orel, large part of the town destroyed. 1850. Cracow, large part of the town burned.

1864. Novgorod, large amount of property destroyed.

TURKEY.

The following fires have occurred at Constantinople :1729. A great fire destroyed 12,000 houses and 7000 people. 1745. A fire lasted five days.

1750. In January 10,000 houses burned; in April property destroyed estimated from £1,000,000 to £3,000,000: Later in the year 10,000 houses were destroyed.

1751. 4000 houses were burned. 1756. 15,000 houses and 100 people destroyed. During the years 1761, 1765, and 1767 great havoc was made by fire. 1769. July 17. A fire raged for twelve hours, extending nearly I mile in length. Many of the palaces, some small mosques, and nearly 650 houses were destroyed. 1771. A fire lasting 15 hours consumed 2500 houses and shops. 1778. 2000 houses were burned.

1782. August 12. A fire burned three days: 10,000 houses, 50 mosques, and 100 corn mills destroyed; 100 lives lost. In February 600 houses burned; in June 7000 more. 1784. August 5. A fire burned for 26 hours, and destroyed 10,000 houses, most of which had been rebuilt since the fires of 1782. In the same year, March 13, a fire in the 'suburb of Pera destroyed two-thirds of that quarter. Loss estimated at 2,000,000 florins.

1791. Between March and July 32,000 houses are said to have been burned, and as many in 1795.

1799. In the suburb of Pera 13,000 houses were burned and many

1816 August 16. 12,000 houses and 3000 shops in the finest quarter were destroyed.

1818 August 13. A fire destroyed several thousand houses. 1826. A fire destroyed 6000 houses.

1848. 500 houses and 2000 shops destroyed Loss estimated at £3,000,000

1865. A great fire destroyed 2800 houses, public buildings, &c Over 22,000 people were left homeless

1870. June 5. The suburb of Pera, occupied by the foreign popu lation and native Christians, was swept by a fire which destroyed over 7000 buildings, many of them among the best in the city, including the residence of the foreign legations. Loss estimated at nearly £5,000,000. 1797. Scutari, the town of 3000 houses totally destroyed 1763. Smyrna, 2600 houses consumed. Loss, £200,000 3000 to 4000 shops, &c, 3000 dwellings burned consumed Loss, £4,000,000. 4000 shops, mosques, magazines, &c, burned 12,000 houses were burned.

1772. 1796. 1841.

1679. Boston.

1760. 1787. 1794. 1872.

A fire occurred in April during a gale of wind, destroying buildings covering a space of 6 square miles. 20,000 persons were made homeless. A fire destroyed 10,000 houses.

UNITED STATES.

All the warehouses, 80 dwellings, and the vessels
in the dockyards were consumed. Loss,
£200,000.

A fire caused a loss estimated at £100,000.
A fire consumed 100 buildings, February 20.
96 buildings were burned. Loss, £42,000.
Great fire, November 9-10. By this fire the richest
quarter of Boston was destroyed.

The fire commenced at the corner of Summer and Kingston streets. The area burned over was 65 acres. 776 buildings, comprising the largest granite and brick warehouses of the city, filled with merchandise, were burned. The loss was about £15,000,000. Before the end of the year 1876 the burned district had been rebuilt more substantially than ever.

1778. Charleston. 1796. 1838.

A fire caused the loss of £100,000

300 houses were burned.

One-half the city was burned on April 27. 1158 buildings destroyed Loss, £600,000. 1802. Portsmouth (Maine), 102 buildings destroyed. 1813.

397 buildings destroyed." 1820. Savannah, 463 buildings were burned. Loss, £800,000. 1835. New York. The great fire of New York began in Mer chant Street, December 16, and burned 530 buildings in the business part of the city. 1000 mercantile firms lost their places of business. The area burned over was 52 acres. The loss was £3,000,000. A fire in the business part of the city, July 20, destroyed 300 buildings. The loss was £1,500,000. 35 persons were killed. 1845. Pillsburg. A large part of the city burned, April 11 20 squares, 1100 buildings destroyed. Loss, £2,000,000 1846. Nantucket was almost destroyed.

1845.

1848. Albany. 600 houses burned, August 17. Area burned over 37 acres, one-third of the city. Loss, £600,000. 1849. St Louis. 23 steamboats at the wharves, and the whole or part of 15 blocks of the city burned, May

1851.

17. Loss, £600,000.

More than three-quarters of the city was burned, May 4. 2500 buildings. Loss, £2,200,000. 500 buildings burned. Loss, £600,000. 1850. Philadelphia. 400 buildings burned, July 9. 30 lives

1851.

1865.

lost. Loss, £200,000. 50 buildings burned, February 8. 20 persons killed. Loss, £100,000. 1851. Washington. Part of the Capitol and the whole of the Congressional Library were burned. 1851. San Francisco. On May 4-5 a fire destroyed 2500 buildings. A number of lives lost. More than three-fourths

The greatest tire of modern times.

It began in a barn on the night of the 8th of October and raged until the 10th The area burned over was 2124 acies, or 3 sq. miles, of the very heart of the city 250 lives were lost. 98,500 per Suns were made homeless, and 17,430 buildings were consumed The buildings were one-third in number and one half in value of the buildings of the city. Before the end of 1875 the whole burned district had been rebuilt The loss was estimated at £39,000,000 1862 Troy (NY) was nearly destroyed by fire. 1866. Portland. Great fire on July 4 One-half of the city was burned; 200 acres were ravaged; 50 buildings were Loss, blown up to stop the progress of the fire. £2,000,000 to £2,250,000.

1871. October Forest and prairie fires in. Wisconsin and Michigan. 15,000 persons were made homeless, 1000 lives lost. Loss estimated at £600,000.

bustible contents of buildings and of the materials they are Such great fires as the above are due, first, to the combuilt of, and to radical defects in the method of construc tion, and, secondly, to the want of proper means and appliances for promptly extinguishing fires and preventing the spread of them. Wooden buildings crowded together in narrow crooked streets, insufficient supply or absolute want of water, no fire engines or only the feeblest machines for pumping water, and no organized or trained and disciplined body of firemen, were the conditions in earlier times, and in some countries they are the conditions still.

In modern times great improvements have been made in the means employed for the prevention and extinction of fires. Broad thoroughfares have taken the place of narrow crooked streets; incombustible materials, such as brick, stone (natural and artificial), and iron are used, not only for the exterior, but for the interior of important buildings as far as practicable; the introduction into cities of an abundant supply of water is common; the electric fire-alarm telegraph, powerful steam fire-engines, extension ladders, and fire-escapes are among the mechanical appliances now in daily use. The two essential elements of the problem, however, are the fire-resisting character of buildings, and the organizations of trained men who can make the modern appliances effective. The methods of organization and procedure differ in different countries.

Fires are dealt with, first aud chiefly, by way of prevention; secondly, by prompt measures for extinction when they have begun; and thirdly, by circumscription or limitation when the fire has obtained such a hold of any building or range that the salvation of the burning property is beyond hope. In concerting preventive measures, a knowledge of the principal causes of fires is of the utmost consequence; and as bearing on the ordinary causes the following abstract of the results deduced from about 30,000 fires, which occurred in London during the thirty-three years 1833-65, possesses significance. The percentages of differer.t causes were:-Candles 11.07, children playing 159, curtains 9.71, flues 7.80, gas 7·65, lucifers 141, smoking tobacco 1.40, sparks of fire 4.47, spontaneous ignition 0.95, stoves 1.67, other known causes 19-40, unknown causes 32.88. There is too much reason to suspect that a considerable proportion of fires attributed to no known cause are due to incendiarism; and were an official investigation into the origin of fires instituted, it most probably would result in a great saving of property. Among preventive measures the fire-proof building of large erections occupies an important place. Much can be done structurally to prevent and to limit fires, although it is now conceded that the thorough fire-proofing of any building is almost impracticable. The erection itself may be fire proof, but no sooner is it stored with inflammable goods or property than it ceases to be invulnerable. It is of the utmost importance to reduce the danger of fire to a minimum in many public structures, as for example, public record offices, banks, and great libraries and museums, and in such establishments generally the most complete precautions are observed. Open fire-places are discouraged, arched floors are provided, the use of exposed wood is, as far as possible, avoided, gas and other lights are most carefully arranged, and fire buckets, hose, and other appliances

Fire Extinction.

In coping with fires, water is the great agent employed; and in towns where the supply of water is abundant, and where especially there is a constant and high pressure in the mains, the task of the firemen is much simplified. In such cases it is frequently only necessary to attach the firehose to the plugs, and the pressure in the main pipe is sufficient, without the aid of any engine, to throw the jet over the whole burning mass. But it is only rarely that towns are so favourably situated, and for the equipment of an ordinary fire brigade and fire establishment the following among other appliances are required.

Hand-Pump and Bucket.-A small hand-pump which can be set into a bucket of water is the most effective means of distributing a small supply of water without waste. If judiciously used it will put out any fire in its earlier stages. The Portable Chemical Extinguisher (fig. 1), Dick's Patent Extincteur, &c., designed to answer the same purpose as the hand-pump and bucket, are now in extensive use in factories, warehouses, and public buildings. The vessel is a cylindrical tank, holding 7 gallons or upwards of water, and is carried on the back. Carbonic acid is generated at the moment of using within the vessel itself, and from its compressibility affords the power which projects the liquid. The working pressure varies from 70 to 120 lb per square inch, according to the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere, and the projectile range of FIG. 1.-Portable the jet is from 40 to 50 feet. Extinguisher.

Hand-worked Engines consist essentially of a pair of single-acting force-pumps mounted on wheels and worked by hand. They vary much in size, weight, and power, and are hauled by men or horses. Those most used in Paris are worked by eight men, and throw a §-inch jet to a height of 100 feet. Each pump is 5 inches in diameter, with 94-inch stroke. A smaller engine that may be carried into buildings by four men is also used. Those of the London fire brigade are worked most effectively by 26 to 30 men; pumps 6 or 7 inches diameter and 8 inches stroke. Each stroke (with 6-inch pumps) delivers 13 gallons of water. Still larger engines have been used, requiring 40 to 50 men. In the United States these as well as smaller hand-worked engines have given place to steam fi e-engines, with pumps of the same size, in all the larger towns.

Steam Fire-Engines are essentially a pair of single-acting suction and force pumps driven by steam power. They are hauled by two horses, or are self-propellers. They weigh, as drawn to fires, from 5000 to 8000 Ib. Fig. 2 repres sents the kind that is most in use in the United States. The diameter of the cylinder in this engine is 7 inches, and that of the pumps 4 inches, with a stroke of 8 inches.

14b sulphuric acid.

The soda is dissolved in the water, and the acid is held in a leaden jar within the tank, which is securely closed. At the moment of using the sulphuric acid is mixed with the water, and instantly combining with the soda causes carbonic acid to be given off with a pressure

FIG. 3.-Chemical Engine.

of 140 b on the square inch. The tanks are used independently and charged separately, so that a continuous stream of water, usually-inch jet, may be maintained. 300 feet of 2-inch rubber hose is carried. The whole apparatus, charged and carrying three men, weighs about

5000 b, and is drawn by two horses. The hose is rarely carried upon the engine; it is usually on a separate carriage drawn by one horse. The reel carries about 1000 feet of 3-inch rubber hose. Six hosemen ride on the carriage. The total load is about 3000 lb.1

Ladder Carriages carry from 20 to 25 ladders of various lengths (see fig. 4). Two ladders spliced reach 70 feet. The carriage fully equipped and carrying 12 men weighs from 7000 to 8000 b, and is drawn by two horses. The "aerial ladder" (so-called) reaches when fully extended a height of 100 feet, and is self-supporting; it is readily moved, when raised. It is made in 8 sections, each being a ladder about 12 feet long, and is put together and raised in six minutes. It is available as a fire-escape. The total load with its carriage is about 6000 lb.

Electric Fire-Alarm Telegraph.-Time is a most important element in all fires, and the purpose of this telegraph is to put it in the power of any one discovering a fire to make known' the locality of it to the fire department in the shortest possible time. Throughout the town or city "alarm boxes" are placed, connected by telegraph wire

1 A combined manual and chemical fire-engine is made by Dick of Glasgow, which consists of an iron tank on wheels, divided into two galvanized compartments. It has two pumps, with vertical motion, connected with the suction pipes, to fill the compartments with water where the chemicals are dissolved, and two pumps to project the chemical liquid from each compartment into the air-chamber, where they combine and generate carbonic acid gas. The gas is held in solution by the water, and is conveyed direct to the fire, upon which it exercises its fire-extinguishing power. The engine can be worked by four or five men, and is capable of throwing 30 gallons of water per minute, containing 250 gallons of carbonic acid gas, a distance of 75 to 90 feet.