CANCER IN CATTLE. 



CANDLE. 



Green produce per acre 

 Dry produce 

 Nutriuve matter 



34,031 

 17,015 8 

 2,126 15 



From this, it appears to be much more pro- 

 ductive on a tenacious clay soil than on a 

 rich sandy loam ; the superior nutritive powers 

 which this grass possesses recommend it 

 therefore to the notice of occupiers of such 

 soils. The foliage cannot be considered 

 coarse, when compared with other grasses 

 which afford a produce equal in quantity. 

 Dry straw is a much coarser food than the hay 

 made from this grass, and the objection may 

 be met by reducing this hay to chaff. The 

 striped reed canary-grass has not yet been 

 found in a wild state ; it is cultivated in gar- 

 dens for the beauty of its striped leaves : the 

 common wild variety wants this distinguish- 

 ing feature, it grows to a greater height than 

 the striped-leaved variety, does not appear to 

 be eaten by cattle, but birds are fond of the 

 seeds. It comes into flower about the first and 

 second weeks of July, and ripens about the 

 middle of August. (Hurt. Gram. Wob. p. 359.) 

 CANCER, IN CATTLE (Lat. ; Sax. can- 

 cepe.) A virulent swelling or sore. Cancer 

 of the eye, or a perfect change of its mecha- 

 nism into a fleshy half-decomposed substance, 

 that ulcerates and wastes away, or from which 

 fungous growths spring that can never be 

 checked, is a disease of occasional occurrence 

 in cattle. The remedy should be extirpation 

 of the eye, if it were deemed worth while to 

 attempt iU (Lib. of Usef. Know., Cattle, p. 293.) 

 CANDLE (Lat." candela ; Sax. cancel; Ital. 

 candelle , Fr. chanddle ; Welsh, cantryll). A 

 taper or cylinder of tallow, wax, or spermaceti, 

 the wick of which is commonly of several 

 threads of cotton spun and twisted together. 

 Candles in England were subject for a length- 

 ened period to an excise duty of 3%d. per lb., 

 but this was repealed in 1831. Good tallow 

 candles ought to be made with equal parts of 

 sheep and ox tallow ; care being uikt-u to avoid 

 any mixture of hog's lard, which occasions a 

 thick, black smoke, attended with a disagree- 

 able smell, and also causes the candle to run. 

 The farmer, if far from any town, may make 

 his own candles. The cotton for making the 

 wicks is sold, ready prepared, in balls. When 

 it is intended to be used for candles, a certain 

 number of pieces of it of equal length are to 

 be cut, and stripped through the hand to re- 

 move any knots or inequalities. They are 

 next to be affixed by one end to a rod about 

 three feet long, leaving about two inches be- 

 tween each wick. The whole is then to be 

 dipped into a vessel, large enough, and filled 

 with fluid tallow ; and this is to be repeated 

 three times for the first layer or coat. They 

 are then to be suspended in a rack over the 

 vessel to drain and solidify ; after which they 

 are to be dipped twice, and again hung up to 

 drain ; and so on, successively, until they ac- 

 quire the desired degree of thickness. 



The first part of the process is the sorting 

 of the tallow. Mutton suet with a proportion 

 of ox-tallow is selected for mould candles, be- 

 cause it gives them gloss and consistence. 

 Coarser tallow is reserved for the dipped can- 



dles. After being sorted, it is cut into small 

 aieces, preparatory to its being melted or ren- 

 dered; and the sooner this is done after the fat 

 is taken from the carcase the better, because 

 the fibrous and fleshy matters mixed with it 

 promote its putrefaction. Tallow is too com- 

 monly melted by a naked fire applied to the 

 bottom of the vessel, whereas it should be done 

 either in a cold set pan, where the flame plays 

 only round the sides a little way above the bot- 

 tom, or in a steam-cased pan. After being 

 fused a considerable time, the membraneous 

 matters collect at the surface, constituting the 

 cracklings used sometimes for feeding dogs, 

 after the fat has been squeezed out of it by a 

 press. The liquid tallow is strained through 

 a sieve into another copper, where it is treated 

 with water at a boiling temperature in order 

 to wash it. After a while, when the foul water 

 has settled to the bottom, the purified tallow is 

 lifted out, by means of tinned iron buckets, 

 into tubs of a moderate size, where it con- 

 cretes, and is ready for use. 



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 basin 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. 



In June, 1825, M. Gay Lussac obtained a 

 patent in England for making candles from 

 margaric and stearic acids, improperly called 

 stearine, by converting tallow into the above 

 fat acids by the following process : Tallow 

 consists, by Chevreul's researches, of stearine, 

 a solid fat, and elaine, a liquid fat ; the former 

 being in much the larger proportion. Whn 

 tallow is treated with an alkaline body, such 

 as potash, soda, or lime, it is saponified : that 

 is, its stearine and elaine become respectively 

 stearic and elaic acids, and, as such, form 

 compounds with these bases. When by the 

 action of an acid, such as the sulphuric or 

 muriatic, these combinations are decomposed, 

 the fats reappear in the altered form of 

 stearic and elaic acids ; the former body being 

 harder than tallow, and of a texture somewhat 

 like spermaceti, the latter body being fluid, 

 like oil. "The decomposition of the soap 

 should be made," says the patentee, "in a 

 large quantity of water, kept well stirred dur- 

 ing the operation, and warmed by steam intro- 

 duced in any convenient way. When the 

 mixture has been allowed to stand, the acid of 

 the tallow or fat will rise to the surface, and 

 the water being drawn off will carry the alka- 

 line or saline matters with it; but if the acids 

 of the tallow should retain any portion of the 

 salts, fresh water may be thrown upon it, and 

 the whole well agitated, until the acids have 

 become perfectly free from the alka'ine mat- 

 Y 253 



