HEATING AND LIGHTING UTENSILS IN NATIONAL MUSEUM O 



plate 3, figure 9 (Cat. No. 204264), Fauquier County, Va.; Dr. 

 Thomas L. Settle; 15 inches (38 cm.) high. While the use of the 

 taper was general in Europe, the only introduction to America was 

 in the English colonies and particularly in Virginia. 



In plate 3 are grouped specimens showing some of the important 

 steps in the development from the torch to the candle which may be 

 described in detail. At the lower right (fig. 14) is a piece of bark 

 of the Mexican candle tree, Jacqulnia fungens^ which is naturally 

 so waxy that a small piece will give a good temporary light. This 

 torch material has been much prized in Mexico, probably from an- 

 cient times. The most valued torchwood in the earlier stages of 

 culture and persisting to modern times is derived from coniferous 

 trees. There are many references to pine torches in classical litera- 

 ture and these often ascribe a sacred character to the wood and 

 mention its use in rites. A similar observation is true for Mexico. 

 In general the nations within the distribution of the pine knew 

 the value of its fat wood for light. The specimen pictured (fig. 13) 

 was collected near Richmond, Va., about 1890. Known in Virginia 

 as "lightwood," fat or heart pine was formerly burned in a pan 

 stuck into the side of the fireplace in the kitchen of the better class 

 of families and is even now used for light in the cabins of the poor 

 white people and, negroes. (Cat. No. 129907; gift of Rev. R. Ry- 

 land.) In olden times in Louisiana a familiar sight was negroes 

 carrying on the head bundles of lightwood for sale in New Orleans. 

 Plate 3 also contains in figure 11 a mass of resin attached to a rod 

 used by the natives of Africa (Cat. No. 169176) ; J. H. Camp; 16 

 inches (40.5 cm.) long. In comparison note the candle. Figure 12, 

 the Chinese form of which is called lobstock. This candle is made 

 by winding a cord wick around the end of a piece of the stalk of 

 some plant and forming over it a mass of tallow. It was collected 

 in Kashmir by Dr. W. L. Abbott. (Cat. No. 175141; 10 inches (25 

 cm.) long.) 



The practice of using natural sources, either animal or vegetal, 

 as light producers has doubtless many examples which have escaped 

 observation. Fortunately, a few of these have come within the 

 horizon of modern scientific observers. Especially interesting is 

 the use within the memory of man of the fat body of the stormy 

 petrel as a complete torch or lamp by the Shetland and Blanket 

 Islanders. This bird is small but excessively fat. It is recorded 

 that when caught the petrel ejects oil from its digestive tract. The 

 custom in the Shetlands was to thrust a wick down the dead 

 bird's throat, apply a light, and thus produce a feeble illumination 

 in the somewhat cheerless huts of the islanders. (PI. 4a;, fig. 1, 

 Cat. No. 153887, Shetland Island; Edward Lovett.) The bodies of 



