68 THE PALMS OF EUROPE AND AFKICA. 



pci'atnres entirely to free the stearin from its 

 more liquid conipaniou ; and the pile of mats, 

 after being pressed, are taken to another press 

 in a room Avhere the air is kept heated by steam 

 to 120° Fahrenheit. Here they are again sub- 

 mitted to pressure of equal power with the 

 former, by means of which the remaining por- 

 tions of olein are finally expelled. The mats 

 are now separated, and the stearin is peeled off 

 from them, looking like flakes of spermaceti. 

 It is now consigned to a vat, where it is melted 

 by means of coils of steam-pipes, and when 

 completely liquefied, it is ready to be run into 

 the moulds, which are heated by steam to a 

 certain temperature before being filled with the 

 liquid material. The object of this precaution 

 is to prevent the stearin from congealing as 

 soon as it comes into contact with the metal of 

 the moulds, which it would do if they Avere 

 cold, as they formerly used to be, a circum- 

 stance which rendered the candles imperfect 

 or misightly. In order to prevent this, the 

 liquid stearin was heated to 240°, and a small 

 quantity of arsenic was added, which obviated 

 the ditliculty, but rendered the candles some- 

 what unhealthy for use. Every obstacle is, 

 however, now removed by the above method of 

 heating the moulds, and the only wonder is, as 



