d most other vegetable substances are alike
dangerous. In one case oil and sawdust took fire within sixteen hours;
in others, the same materials have lain for years, until some external
heat has been applied to them. The greater number of the serious fires
which have taken place in railroad stations in and near London have
commenced in the paint stores. In a very large fire in an oil
warehouse, a quantity of oil was spilt the day before and wiped up,
the wipings being thrown aside. This was believed to have been the
cause of the fire, but direct proof could not be obtained. Dust-bins
also very often cause serious accidents. In one instance, 30,000_l._
to 40,000_l._ were lost, apparently from hot ashes being thrown into a
dust-bin.

These accidents may in a great measure be avoided by constant care and
attention to cleanliness, and where paints and oils are necessary, by
keeping them in some place outside the principal buildings. Dust-bins
should, as much as possible, be placed in the open air, and where that
cannot be done, they should be emptied once a day. No collection of
rubbish or lumber of any sort should be allowed to be made in any
building of value.

Mr. Wyatt Papworth, architect, has published some very interesting
notes on spontaneous ignition, giving several well-authenticated
instances.

_Incendiarism_ may be divided into three sorts--malicious, fraudulent,
and monomaniac. Of the former there has been very little in London for
many years. The second, however, is rather prevalent. The insurance
offices, which are the victims, protect themselves as well as they
can, but an inquest on each fire is the true mode of lessening the
evil. This is much more the interest of the public than at first seems
to be the case. In several instances where the criminals were brought
to punishment by Mr. Payne's inquests, people were asleep in the upper
parts of the houses set fire to, and in one case there were as many as
twelve or fifteen persons. This, however, is seldom stated in the
indictment, as, if it is, the punishment is still death by the law,
and it is supposed that a conviction is more easily obtained, by the
capital charge being waived. Monomania is a rare cause of
incendiarism, but still several well-certified cases have occurred in
which no possible motive could be given. In one instance a youth of
fifteen set fire to his father's premises seven times within a few
hours. In another, a young female on a visit