406 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1890. 



impinge against spongy platinum, which becomes incandescent through 

 some obscure and little understood action, in which the power of plati- 

 num to cause the combination of gases plays an important part. The 

 dobereiner consists of a glass jar filled with dilute sulphuric acid, hav> 

 ing a flat trap cover, from the center of which hangs down a glass bell, 

 in which are suspended beads of zinc strung on iron wire. On the top 

 of the cover is a jet and stop-cock opening out of the bell, and in front 

 of it is a small chamber containing a bit of spongy platinum. The 

 acid acts on the zinc, producing hydrogen gas as soon as the cock is 

 opened. When the cock is closed, the action ceases, as the acid is 

 forced out of the bell by gas pressure, and the zinc is not acted upon. 

 The jet of gas plays on the platinum, quickly rendering it incandescent 

 and easily setting fire to a splint. (Compare Yolta's electric hydrogen 

 lamp.) The dobereiner was rather extensively used in Germany and 

 in other couutries. It is still found in laboratories and can be pur- 

 chased from instrument-makers. 



The first United States patent for friction-matches was issued in 1836. 

 It was a chlorate match. 



The splints were made by sawing or splitting blocks of wood into 

 slivers slightly attached at the base and dipping the whole bunch. 



These were known as slab or block- 

 matches (Fig. 63), and, although the 

 first patent, they are in favor in 

 parts of the country to the present 

 day, notably in Maine. Their chief 

 advantages are that they are noise- 

 less aud will not leave a mark when 

 scratched on a white wall. 



John Walker, of Stockton-upon- 

 Tees, is said to have been the inven- 

 tor of friction -matches in 1829. The 

 eighth edition of the Encyclopedia 

 Britannica does not give the name 

 of the inventor, and states that 

 matches were invented in 1832. 

 Dussauce states that they were of 

 German invention, and perhaps 

 before 1830.* 



The first friction-matches, " luci- 

 fers," were made by dipping splints first into melted sulphur and then 

 into a paste of chlorate of potash and sulphide of antimony, mixed 

 with gum water. The paper box contained perhaps one hundred 

 matches and two pieces of fine sandpaper. They were lighted by fold- 

 ing the sandpaper over the end and giving the match a quick pull. 

 The Museum collection contains a specimen of these matches (Cat. No. 



Fig. 63. 

 Block Matches. 



(Cat. No. 131260,- U. S. N. M. Collected by Walter Ho 



H. Dussauce. Fabrication of Matches. Philadelphia, 18G4 ; preface, p. iv. 



