In every Russian house the stove plays an important part, particularly so in the houses of the poor. There the stove is often of extraordinary dimensions, and serves for cooking and baking food, as well as for warming the room. Round it are placed benches, where at their leisure the inmates may enjoy the luxury of increased heat, for to these denizens of the north the imbibing of caloric is among the highest of enjoyments. In the stove itself, a variety of niches and indentations are made, where various articles are laid to dry, and wet stockings and linen are constantly hanging about it. On the platform, at the top, lie beds, on which, wrapped up in their sheepskin cloaks, the inmates often abandon themselves to the twofold luxury of idleness and perspiration.
The Russian stoves, after all, however, are the most unpoetical, if not the least comfortable, of all the means by which human ingenuity has contrived to generate an artificial heat. The Spanish brasero^ the Italian cammino, the English fireside, and the half-open German stove, that affords at least a peep at the active minister within, all these form attractive centres, round which humanity congregates, and around which social converse is generated, and an interchange of ideas promoted, while the agi-eeable warmth of the flame is enjoyed. A Russian stove, on the contrary, is a mute, sulky-looking companion, whose enormous size makes it difficult ever to give him a graceful exterior. In general, the stove is a large, clumsy, oblong mass, that rises nearly to the ceiling of the room, to which it is a disfigurement rather than a decoration. In the houses of the rich, therefore, the stove is concealed, as much as possible, by mirrors and other articles of furniture, or is made wholly invisible by being constructed within the partition wall.
The double windows, which are often found even in the houses of the poorest peasants, contribute greatly to the warmth of Russian houses. As early as October the house may be said to go into winter quarters. Double windows are affixed to every room ; every aperture through which a little air might find its way is carefully covered, and slips of paper are pasted over the edges of aU the windows. Here and there a window is so constructed that a single pane may now and then be opened to let in a little air. In this close and confined atmosphere the family live and have their being, till the returning May ushers in the Hrst fine weather, and gives the signal that fresh air may again be permitted to circulate through the interior of the mansion.
In the intermediate space formed by the double vnndows, it is customary to place sand or salt, either of which, by absorbing moisture, is supposed to increase the warmth. The salt is piled up in a variety of fanciful forms, and the sand is usually formed into a kind of garden decorated with artificial flowers. These bloom and blossom through the winter in their glassy cases, and as in these arrangements every family displays its own little fancies and designs, it may afford amusement, to those who are not above being amused by trifles, to walk the streets on a fine winter-morning, and admire the infinite variety of decorations presented by the double windows.
Quite as much care is expended upon the doors as upon the windows. It is a common thing to pass, not merely two, but three doors, before you enter the warmed passage of a house ; and this is the case, not only in private houses, but also in public buildings, such as theatres, churches, &c.
The poor suffer far less from cold in St. Petersburg than in cities under a milder heaven. In different parts of the town there are large rooms, which are constantly kept warm, and to which every one has at all times free access. In front of the theatres, large fires are kept burning for the benefit of coachmen and servants ; but the furs and warm apparel in which even beggars are sure to be clad, and the air-and-water-tight construction of their houses, are the chief security of all classes against the severity of their climate. As soon as the thermometer falls to — 25^^, the sentinels all receive fur cloaks, in which they look grotesque enough, when marching up and down in front of the palaces. With all these precautious, however, the intense cold that sometimes prevails for weeks together, converts many a specimen of living humanity into a senseless statue of ice. This
13 owing more to the manners of the people than to the want of suitable protection ; to drunkenness and idleness among the poor, and to hardneartedness, or more properly to inconsiderateness, among the rich.