1851.} OF THE ROYAL INSTITUTION. 21 
WEEKLY EVENING MEETING, 
Friday, February 21. 
Tue Duxr or NorTHUMBERLAND, President, in the Chair. 
W. Carpmakgu, Esa. 
On the Manufacture of Candles. 
FormErty the classes of candles manufactured in this country 
were Wax, Spermaceti, and Tallow, the materials being used almost 
in their natural state. 
The manufacture of waz into candles has received no improvement, 
but is still a rude process, consisting of hanging a series of wicks (each 
composed of several yarns of Smyrna cotton slightly twisted together) 
around a hoop suspended in the air: the workman pours the melted 
wax on to the wicks in succession till the candles are about one-third 
made, when they are allowed to cool for a time: then again the 
process of pouring on the melted wax is repeated, till the workman 
judges, by sight or by weighing, that the candles are about half 
made ; when they are again allowed to cool and set for a time, after 
which the candles are rolled on a slab of marble. The upper part 
of the candle is formed by cutting away the wax down to a metal 
tag, which covers one end of the wick. The candles are then again 
suspended to hoops, the end of the wick which had previously hung 
downwards being now upwards; and the process of pouring on 
melted wax is again repeated, and the candles finished to the desired 
size, when they are again submitted to the process of rolling between 
two smooth surfaces; the lower ends are cut off, and the candles are 
finished. The bees’ wax employed before being thus used is bleached, 
and is generally mixed with a quantity of Spermaceti. 
The next class of candles to which attention was called was Sperma- 
ceti, of which material many hundreds of tons are annually brought 
to this country. This material is in the manufacture of candles 
mixed with about three per cent of bees’ wax, to prevent the sperma- 
ceti crystallizing. Formerly Spermaceti candles were inferior to 
those made of wax, the same class of wick being used. Some years 
ago platted wicks were substituted for the twisted wicks before em- 
loyed: this was a great step to improvement. Platted wicks have 
a tendency to turn out of the flame while being consumed, the effect 
of which is to cause the wicks to be burned away, rendering the use 
of snuffers unnecessary. Since that time Spermaceti candles, in place 
