The writer continues his remarks and descriptions in a similar manner, treating of all the various parts of the building in succession; then of the riding-house, the stable-yard, the coach-houses, the harness and saddle rooms, and the dog-kennel; then of the kitchen garden, the pleasure garden, the dairy, the farm buildings for a “gentleman farmer;” and, lastly, of the village and the village church, so far as regards the relation between them and the mansion. In short, this writer seems to have proposed to himself this question--“What are the excellencies to be desired and attained in the mansion of an English country gentleman?” and he appears to have solved it by putting together the scattered fragments of his experience in various quarters, and building up an ideal mansion therefrom. CHAPTER XII. FIRE-PROOF HOUSES. The attempts which have been made to render houses fire-proof are so intimately connected with the construction of dwellings, that it will be proper to give a few brief details on the subject. There are many difficulties attending these attempts; for so long as wood forms the chief inner frame-work of a house, there will always be considerable liability to destruction by fire. Most of the proposed plans have had relation to the coating of the wood with some substance which should render it less inflammable, while others have been directed rather to the rejection of combustible substances from the list of those used in house-building. So long back as 1775, Mr. Hartley made several trials in order to test the efficacy of a method invented by him for that purpose. Thin iron plates were nailed to the top of the joists; the edges of the sides and ends being lapped over, folded close, and hammered together. Partitions, stairs, and floors were proposed to be defended in the same manner. The plates were so thin as not to prevent the floor from being nailed on the joists in the same manner as if the iron were not used; and the plates were kept from rust by being painted or varnished with oil and turpentine. Mr. Hartley had a patent for this invention; and Parliament voted a sum of money towards defraying the expense of his numerous experiments. It does not, however, appear that the plan was permanently adopted. About the same period, Lord Mahon, afterwards Earl Stanhope, a nobleman possessing a highly inventive tact in mechanical matters, brought forward another method having the same object in view. This method was of a three-fold character, comprising _under-flooring_, _extra-lathing_, and _inter-securing_.