"That there were no chimneys in the 10th, 12th, and 13th centuries, has been presumed from the terms "ignitegium" [curfew] or "inpritegium" the curfew-bell of the English, and couvrefeu of the French; which seem to intimate, that the people made fires in their houses in a hole or pit in the centre of the floor, under an opening formed in the roof; and when the fire was burned out, or the family went to bed at night, the hole was shut by a cover of wood."