LUCIFER MATCHES 147 



pressure as it may bo subjected to under the ordinary condition of keeping in closed 

 boxes. 



According to Dr. R. BSttger, in Annalen der Ckemie und Pharmacie, vol. xlvii. 

 p. 334, the best composition for lucifer matches is 



Parts Parts 



Phosphorus .... 4 Eed ochre, or red lead . . 5 



Nitre 10 Smalt 2 



Fine glue . . . . 6 | 



Convert the glue, with a little water, by a gentle heat into a smoth jelly, put it into 

 a slightly-warm porcelain mortar to liquefy ; rub the phosphorus down through this 

 gelatine at a temperature of about 140 or 150 Fanr. ; add the nitre, then the red 

 powder, and lastly the smalt, till the whole forms a uniform paste. To make writing- 

 .paper matches, which burn with a bright flame, and diffuse an agreeable odour, 

 moisten each side of the paper with tincture of benzoin, dry it, cut it into slips, and 

 smear one of their ends with a little of the above paste by means of a hair-pencil. 

 On rubbing the said end, after it is dry, against a rough surface the paper will take 

 fire, without the intervention of sulphur. 



To form lucifer wood-matches that act without sulphur, melt in a flat-bottomed tin 

 pan as much white wax as will stand ith of an inch deep ; take a bundle of wooden 

 matches free from resin, rub their ends against a red-hot iron plate till the wood ba 

 slightly charred ; dip them now in the melted wax for a moment, shake them well 

 on taking them out, and finally dip them separately in the above viscid paste. When 

 dry, they will kindle readily by friction. 



The phosphorus may be introduced into the composition of lucifer matches in the 

 form of a solution in bisulphide of carbon. It has been suggested by C. Puscher to 

 employ a sulphide of phosphorus in the place of pure phosphorus. 



A ' Safety Lucifer Match' as it is called, has been manufactured at Jonkoping in 

 Sweden and by Bottger in Germany. A patent was obtained in this country, by 

 Messrs. Bryant and May, for this match. Its peculiarity consists in the division of 

 the combustible ingredients of the lucifer between the match and the friction-paper. 

 In the ordinary lucifer the phosphorus, sulphur, and chlorate of potash or nitre, are 

 all together on the match, which ignites when rubbed against any rough substance. 

 In the Swedish matches these materials are so divided that the phosphorus is placed 

 on the sand-paper, whilst the sulphur and a mininmm amount of chlorate or nitrate 

 of potash is placed on the match. In virtue of this arrangement it is only when the 

 phosphorised sand-paper and the sulphurised match come in contact with each other 

 that the ignition occurs. Neither match nor sand-paper, singly takes fire by moderate 

 friction against a rough surface. The phosphorus used in the sand-paper for these 

 safety matches is the amorphous variety described below. 



The preparation of lucifer matches has been attended with much human suffering. 

 Every person engaged in a factory of this kind is more or less exposed to the fumes 

 of phosphorus, and this exposure produces a disease which has thus been described by 

 Mr. Harrison in the ' Quarterly Journal of Medical Science ' : ' This disease,' he says, 

 ' is of so insidious a nature that it is at first supposed to be common toothache, and 

 a most serious disease of the jaw is produced before the patient is fully aware of his 

 condition. The disease gradually creeps on, until the sufferer becomes a miserable and 

 loathsome object, spending the best period of his life in the wards of a public hospital. 

 Many patients have died of the disease ; many, unable to open their jaws, have 

 lingered with carious and necrosed bones ; others have suffered dreadful mutilations 

 from surgical operations, considering themselves happy to escape with the loss of the 

 greater portion of the lower jaw.' 



By the introduction of an amorphous phosphorus discovered by M. Schrotter, 

 which is in nearly all respects unlike the ordinary phosphorus, except in combustibility, 

 but which answers exceedingly well for the manufacture of lucifer matches, this disease 

 is prevented, the manufactory is rendered more healthy, and the boxes of matches 

 themselves less dangerous. 



Lucifer matches are now manufactured without sulphur. Letchford employs 

 paraffin or paraffin-oil for saturating the wood : these ignite rapidly, and burn 

 regularly with little or no smell. Notice and approbation are due to the persever- 

 ing efforts which have been made to produce friction matches, containing neither 

 ordinary nor amorphous phosphorus. Wiederhold lias proved that lucifer matches 

 of good quality may be made with chlorate of potash and hyposulphite of lead : a 

 result which may prove most valuable, should experience show it to be attainable on 

 the industrial scale. Other matches free from phosphorus have been made with the 

 following mixtures, which are given by Jettel : chlorate of potash 4 parts, sulphur 

 1, and bichromate of potash, 0'4 ; or, chlorate of potash 7, sulphur 1, bichromate of 



