The following anecdote, told by Dr. Franklin, will show what accidental causes will sometimes occasion a fire to fail in its desired office of yielding heat without smoke:--“Another puzzling case I met with at a friend’s house near London. His best room had a chimney, in which he told me he never could have a fire, for all the smoke came out into the room. I flattered myself I could easily find the cause, and prescribe the cure. I opened the door, and perceived it was not want of air. I made a temporary contraction of the opening of the chimney, and found that it was not its being too large that made the smoke to issue. I went out and looked up at the top of the chimney: its funnel was joined in the same stack with others, some of them shorter, that drew very well, and I saw nothing to prevent its doing the same. In fine, after every other examination I could think of, I was obliged to own the insufficiency of my skill. But my friend, who made no pretension to such kind of knowledge, afterwards discovered the cause himself. He got to the top of the funnel by a ladder, and looking down, found it filled with twigs and straw, cemented by earth, and lined with feathers. It seems the house, after being built, had stood empty some years before he occupied it, and he concluded that some large birds had taken the advantage of its retired situation to make their nests there. The rubbish, considerable in quantity, being removed, and the funnel cleared, the chimney drew well and gave satisfaction.”