HEATING AND LIGHTING UTENSILS IN NATIONAL MUSEUM H 



possibly a candle, as seen in later forms. (PL Sa, fi<2:. 4, Cat. No. 

 237687, Salaberg, Lower Austria; P. J. Schock; 6.3 inches (16 cm.) 

 high.) A wooden stand splint holder gives a suggestion of devices 

 which may be effected in the absence of iron. It consists of two 

 strips of wood mortised together at the top of a cylindrical staff with 

 square cross shape joined base. The clefts are charred from ignition 

 of the burned down splints, showing that the wooden holder required 

 frequent attention. (PI. 5a, fig. 5, Finland; Hon. John M. Craw- 

 ford; 15.8 inches (36 cm.) high.) An iron splint holder set in 

 the top of a cylindrical wood upright arising from a square, heavy 

 wooden base provides a light to be set on a table or other raised 

 fiat place. (PI. 6h, fig. 2, Cat. No. 167861, Eaisala, Finland; Hon. 

 John M. Crawford; 12.2 inches (31 cm.) high.) Another form 

 for standing on the floor is ingenious and shows a considerable 

 advance in wood working. It consists of a block base with two 

 uprights having grooves cut on the opposing faces. The tops of the 

 uprights are held by a mortised piece through which slides the 

 upright bearing the iron holder. The upright is notched and the 

 lower end is mortised in a crutch which slides in the grooves. A 

 latch fastened to one of the bars forming the frame engages the 

 notches on the sliding upright and thus the light may be raised or 

 lowered. (PI. Qa, fig. 2, Cat. No. 167859, Finland; Hon. John M. 

 Orawford; 39.4 inches (1 m.) high.) The entry of the candle is 

 shown by an iron having a splint cleft in combination with a candle 

 socket. This is an interesting example of history written in things. 

 The candle, made of valuable food fat, is subsidiary at first to the 

 cheap splint, and was probably burnt on special occasions. (PI. 6&, 

 fig. 5, Cat. No. 167865, Finland ; Hon. John M. Crawford ; 4.6 inches 

 (12 cm.) wide.) There appears to have been in Finland a fortu- 

 nately undisturbed conservatism which preserved precious relics and 

 customs of past times. Much of the folk material in the Crawford 

 collection might serve as illustrations of early Aryan arts and 

 industries. 



Splint holders of pincer form with one arm weighted to produce 

 pressure on the splint constitute another type. This type shows an 

 advance on the simple bent iron cleft which gives uncertain adjust- 

 ment of the splint. The pincer type gives a grip on the splint similar 

 to the grasp of the fingers. So far as may be ascertained, the join- 

 ing of two pieces of metal in apposition on the pivot hinge principle 

 was not practiced in the Bronze Age or in the prehistoric Iron Age. 

 The hinged splint holder must then be assigned to the historic 

 period. This device is seen in a floor splint light which has a cross- 

 shape base and an upright of wood perforated at intervals for the 

 reception of an iron spike, part of the iron splint pincers, by means 



