374 



CANDLE. 



Candle, removing the ports after each dip ; and, besides, the 

 /- ' prpcess of cooling is much accelerated by the candles 

 being kept in constant motion through the air. The 

 number of revolutions which the wheel must make in 

 order to complete one operation, must obviously de- 

 pend upon the state of the weather and the size of the 

 candles : but we are told, that, in moderately cold wea- 

 ther, not more than two hours are necessary for a sin- 

 gle person to finish one wheel of candles of a common 

 size. Upon the supposition, therefore, that six wheels 

 are completed in one day, no less a number than 7776 

 candles will be manufactured in that space of time by 

 one workman. 



It is of the greatest consequence, both for the 

 purposes of commerce, and with a view to levying 

 the duty, that a certain number of candles should 

 regularly amount to a definite weight, and conse- 

 quently that the operation of dipping cease at the 

 precise time when the candles have attained this 

 weight. In order to ascertain this important point, 

 the workman, when he thinks the candles have near- 

 ly acquired the proper size, lifts one of the broaches 

 from the end of its lever, and hangs it upon the arm 

 of a balance placed beside him, whose opposite scale 

 has been previously loaded with the proper weights. 

 We shall next describe the process of moulding, 

 which, if possible, is even less complicated in its de- 

 tails than that of dipping. The moulds are made 

 of some metallic substance, usually pewter, and 

 consist of two parts. The shaft, or great body of 

 the mould, is a hollow cylinder, finely polished in 

 the inside, and open at both extremities. The top 

 of the mould is a small metallic cup, having a mould- 

 ing within side, and a hole to admit the wick. The 

 two parts are soldered together ; and, when united, 

 as will readily be imagined, have the shape of a 

 moulded candle. A third piece, called the foot, is 

 sometimes added : it is a kind of small funnel, through 

 which the liquid tallow runs into the mould, and be- 

 ing screwed to the opposite extremity of the shaft, 

 is removable at pleasure. This additional piece may 

 certainly be useful in very mild weather ; since, by 

 removing it, the candles may be drawn more easily 

 from the moulds ; but, in general, it may be dis- 

 pensed with. It is seldom used, and indeed is scarce- 

 ly known in any of the large manufactories of Scot- 

 land. 



Twelve or sixteen of these moulds, according to 

 their size, are fixed in a frame, which bears a great 

 resemblance to a wooden stool, the upper surface of 

 which forms a kind of trough. The top of the 

 moulds points downwards ; and the other extremity, 

 which is open, is inserted into the bottom of the 

 trough or top of the stool, and made quite level 

 with its upper surface. In order to introduce the 

 wicks into the mould, the workman lays the frame 

 upon its side on an adjoining table, and holding in 

 his left hand a quantity of wicks, previously cut 

 to the proper length, he introduces into the mould 

 a long wire with a hooked point. As soon as the 

 hook of the wire appears through the hole in the 

 top of the mould, he attaches to it the looped end 

 of the wick, and immediately drawing back the wire, 

 carries the wick along with it. In this manner each 

 mould in succession is furnished with a wick, Another 



workman now follows, and passes a small wire through Candle, 

 the loop of each wick. This wire is obviously in- ^ v~" 

 tended to keep the wick stretched, and to prevent it 

 from falling back into the mould upon the frame be- 

 ing placed in the proper position for filling. The 

 frame is now handed to the person that fills the 

 moulds, who previously arranges the small wires in 

 such a manner that each wick may be exactly in the 

 middle of the mould. 



The moulds are filled by running tallow into the 

 trough from a cistern furnished with a cock, and 

 which is regularly supplied with tallow of the pro- 

 per temperature from an adjoining boiler. When 

 the workman observes that the moulds are nearly 

 half filled, he turns the cock, and laying hold of 

 that portion of the wick which hangs out of the 

 mould, pulls it tight, and thus prevents any curling 

 of the wick, which might injure the candles. He 

 then opens the cock, and completes the process of 

 filling. The frame is now set aside to cool ; and 

 when the tallow has acquired a proper consistence, 

 which the workman easily discovers by a snapping 

 noise emitted by the candles upon pressing his thumb 

 against the bottom of the moulds, he first withdraws 

 the small wires which kept the wicks tense, -and then 

 scraping off the loose tallow from the top of the 

 frame with a small wooden spade, he introduces a 

 bodkin into the loop of the wick, and thus draws 

 ea^h candle in succession from its mould. The can- 

 dles are now laid upon a table for the inspection of 

 the exciseman, and afterwards removed to the store- 

 house. Previous to storing them up, some candle- 

 makers bleach their candles, by exposing them to the 

 air and dews for several days. This additional la- 

 bour can be necessary only when the dealer is obli- 

 ged to have early sales ; for if the candles are kept 

 for some months, as they ought to be, before they 

 are brought to market, they become sufficiently whit- 

 ened by age. 



Besides the common dipped and moulded candles, 

 a kind of candle intended to burn during the night 

 without being snuffed, is also made of tallow. These 

 candles are usually called rush-lights, from the wick 

 being made of split rushes. 



II. Wax candles. Next to tallow, the substance most 

 employed in the manufacture of candles is wax. Wax 

 candles are made either by the hand or with a ladle. In 

 the former case, the wax being kept soft in hot water, 

 is applied bit by bit to the wick, which is hung from 

 a hook in the wall ; in the latter, the wicks are hung 

 round an iron circle, placed immediately over a large 

 copper tinned bason full of melted wax, which is 

 poured upon their tops, one after another, by means 

 of a large ladle. When the candles have, by either 

 process, acquired the proper size, they are taken 

 from the hooks and rolled upon a table, usually of 

 walnut-tree, with a long square instrument of box 

 smooth at the bottom. As the candles must be roll- 

 ed one by one, in order to preserve their warmth, 

 and keep the wax soft, those made with the ladle 

 are laid^previous to the rolling, in a feather-bed fold- 

 ed in two, at convenient distances from one another. 

 The same precaution is not so necessary with the 

 candles made by the hand, as they may be rolled just 

 as they are formed. Besides the common cylindrical 



