THE PORTABLE CANDLESTICKS. 49 



tin box made of an oval form, about four inches by three, 

 with a socket for a short candle near one end of it on the 

 inside. He also had a paper shade, which could be fixed 

 to the candle, to throw the light down upon his paper. By 

 this arrangement his light was brought within six inches 

 of his paper, and as the effect was nearly doubled by the 

 reflection from the inner surface of the shade, which was 

 white, his one candle flame threw nearly as strong a light 

 upon his paper as eight candles would have done at the 

 ordinary height of one foot. It would have given as much 

 light as four candles without the shade, on the principle 

 above explained of the law of the squares of the distances. 

 The cover of the box was made of the same form with 

 the bottom of it, with a socket in it, also near one end, By 

 this arrangement the sockets did not interfere with each 

 other when the cover was put on, and the gentleman, if the 

 light from one candle, near as he brought it to the paper, 

 was not enough, could at any time have two, the box serv- 

 ing as one candlestick, and the cover as the other. The 



PRACTICAL RESULTS. 



c 



