On the construction of the kitchen,[346] which in Greek houses was sometimes a separate little building erected in the court-yard, our information is extremely imperfect. It is certain, however, contrary to the common opinion, that it was furnished with a chimney,[347] and that the smoke was not permitted to find its way through an aperture in the roof. Thus much might be inferred from a passage in the Wasps, when the old dicast, in love with the courts of law, is endeavouring to escape from the restraint imposed on him by his son, by climbing out through the chimney. It is clear that he has got into some aperture, where he is hidden from sight, for hearing a noise in the wall, his son Bdelycleon, cries out, “What is that?” upon which the old man replies, “I am only the smoke.” It is plain, that he would not, like a Hindù Yoghi, be balancing himself in the air, otherwise the young man must have beheld him sailing up towards the roof. But the matter is set entirely at rest by the Scholiast, who observes, that the καπνοδόχη was a narrow channel like a pipe through which the smoke ascended from the kitchen. This explanation has been confirmed by the discoveries of Colonel Leake,[348] who on the rocky slopes of the hill of the Museion and Pnyx, found the remains of a house partly excavated in the rock, in which the chimney still remained. ----- Footnote 346: Cf. Athen. ix. 22. iii. 60. Footnote 347: Cf. Sch. Aristoph. Nub. 91. Vesp. 139, 147. Footnote 348: Topog. of Athens, p. 361. ----- The same convenience, also, existed in the Roman kitchens,[349] though they would appear to have been unskilfully constructed in both countries, since the cooks complain of the smoke being borne hither and thither by the wind, and interfering with their operations. However, this may have arisen from the numerous small furnaces which, as in France, were ranged along the wall for the purpose of cooking several dishes at once. The chimneys having been perpendicular, as in our old farm-houses, were furnished with stoppers to keep out the rain in bad weather.[350] ----- Footnote 349: Cf. Perrault, sur Vitruv. vi. 9. Mazois, Pal. de Scaur. p. 178. On the interior of a Roman house, see Pet. Bellori, Frag. Vet. Rom. p. 31. Footnote 350: Schol. Aristoph. Vesp. 148. -----