Rehabbing a house- fireplace air intakes?

[EatenByLimestone]

On the side of this fireplace there are little vents on the top and bottom of each side. I haven't gone searching with a flashlight yet, but I'm guessing they are air intakes? There are glass doors on it, but there has to be enough air leaking around them to feed the fire...

Matt

 

[Slow1]

My guess is that they are not there to feed the fire. Rather they probably work through the brickwork (or whatever there is) and are there to help pull heat out from behind the fire - basically convection tubes (not sure that would be the name for them or not). So if you were to look into them I would expect to find the bottom holes to be connected to the top holes but in no way open to the actual firebox area.

 

[Dix]

Do they look like this?