MATCHES; CONGREVES ; LUCITE RS. The manufacture of these humble and mar vellously cheap articles marks a curious stage in the progress of civilization, where luxuries become conveniencies, and then become necessaries. The friction of two pieces of dry wood we now regard as a barbarous mode of procuring light ; yet it is a scientific one, where the materials for a quicker process are wanting. The flint and steel had a long reign in this country ; the tinder box formed an item in Wolverhampton manufactures ; and the sulphur-tipped matches, arranged in bunches spread outin fan-like manner formed the stock in trade of many an itinerant dealer. As mechanical ingenuity supplied the flint and steel and tinder box to supersede the rub bing sticks, so has chemical ingenuity made a wide step in advance, by showing how to tip the little splints or matches with a composi tion which will kindle by slight friction.
Whether called Congreves, Lucifers, or In stantaneous Lights, these small but valuable articles are now made in almost inconceivable quantities. Hand cutting has long been un able to produce the splints in sufficient quan tity; nothing less than steam power can do this. At one among many saw mills in Lon don, these matches are made in the following way. The wood employed is American yellow pine. It is first sawn into blocks about 12 inches long, 6 or 6 wide, and 3 thick. Several of these blocks are placed in a machine where a number of revolving cutters, worked with great rapidity, slice the blocks up into layers, and cut the layers into splints. One machine will cut up two million splints in a day. The splints, as liberated from the machine, slide down into another room, where women and girls tie them up in boxes, the boxes in par cels, and the parcels in bundles. These splints are sold by the hogshead to the lucifer match makers, each hogshead containing perhaps two million splints. At one saw mill alone, it is estimated that the timber of four hun dred large _pine trees is cut up yearly for luci fer matches! The chemical composition which gives to the matches their easy-igniting power, can now be bought at a very low price; and as children are chiefly employed in the manufac ture, the matches can be sold extremely cheap. Whether the colour be red, yellow,
brown, blue, or green, the composition pos sesses the requisite quality in respect to igni tion by friction ;. and chemists are now ac quainted with many such. There are many processes and compositions adopted. In one, the matches are dipped into a mixture of phosphorus, oil of turpentine, and flowers of sulphur ; and afterwards into a mixture of gum arabic, chlorate of potash, and soot. In a second method the composition consists of chlorate of potash, phosphorus, gum arable, and gelatine ; the matches being dipped into melted sulphur before being dipped in this composition. In a third method, the compo sition consists of gum arable, vermilion, phos phorus, and saltpetre. What are called chto rale oioicites tiro dipped into a mixture of chlorate of potAsh, flowers of sulphur, pow dered lump sugar, gum arabic; and vermilion; these matches were originally lighted by dip ping their ends into sulphuric acid; and it was in endeavouring to avoid the necessity of using this dangerouS acid that the manufacturers hit upon the compoSition requisite for ltthifers, which in turn gave way to the eqtially efficient and less noisy congreves. The Midler§ herd spoken of were dipped into Li initture of std. phuret of antimony and chlorate 4 potash, made into a paste with A solution of gnat.
The dipping, drying, packidg in boxes, past, ing, are of 'Course very situPle operations; but they are far from being safe, fet among the fires of London during, the litst few years, a considerable number have occurred at the premises of ,Heifer match maitet-s.