In a message dated 2/9/01 1:04:23 PM, conaught@ix.netcom.com writes: << Possibly it means just furnace, but would they have had a furnace in 1640 and don't understand why quote marks would be around the word. >> Hmmn. From the context, I'd have said furnace in the modern sense is not what is meant. However, my Webster's Collegiate Dictionary includes for furnace, the etymology giving furnas from the Middle English! So maybe something like a portabe fireplace, or something as part of a fireplace?? Sounds like it must be something portable. Janet