BUILDINGS 15

century elsewhere. No advance was made in sani-
tation till the Victorian Age, when town sanitation
was completely revolutionised and, for the first
time, efficiently organised.

The house fire was of wood and peat, though coal
was also used. For artificial lighting oil-lamps (wicks
in oil) and candles were used. A light was obtained
from flint and tinder, the latter being ignited by a
spark got from striking the flint with a piece of
metal.

Rooms were furnished with chairs, tables,
benches, chests, bedsteads, and, in some cases, tub-
shaped baths. Carpets were to be found onJy in
the houses of the very wealthy. The floors of
ordinary houses, like those of churches, were covered
with rushes and straw, among which it was the
useful custom to scatter fragrant herbs. This
rough carpet was pressed by the clogs of working
people and the shoes of the fashionable. The spit
was a much used cooking utensil. Table-cloths,
knives, and spoons were in general use, but not the
fork before the fifteenth century. At one time food
was manipulated by the fingers. York was advanced
in table manners, for it is known that a' fork was
used in the house of a citizen family here in 1443.
The richer members of the middle class owned a
large number of silver tankards, goblets, mazer-
bowls, salt-cellars and similar utensils and ornaments
of diver, for this was a common form in which they
held their wealth.

Beer, which was largely brewed at home, was
the general beverage, but French and other wines
were plentiful. The water supply came from wells,
the water being drawn up by bucket and windlass,
or from the river when the wells were low. The
drinking water of the twentieth-century city is