482 ON THE MANUFACTURE OF COMPOSITE CANDLES AT CLICHY. 



candles. The trials of experience had been fruitless ; it was the 

 methodical researches of chemistry which triumphed with eclat. They 

 had a portion of tallow analysed, which they found composed of three 

 acids — stearic, margaric, and oleic, with a base termed glycerine, the 

 first acid fusible at 60°, the second at 47°, and the third liquid at 0. 

 They analysed the three acids, and they discovered that they were 

 formed of carbon and hydrogen, together with a certain quantity of 

 oxygen, which was the most favourable composition to produce by com- 

 bustion a brilliant light. In fact, they contained hydrogen, the most 

 inflammable of gases ; oxygen, without which all combustion is im- 

 possible : and, finally, carbon, the disengagement of which puts in sus- 

 pension in the flame of the hydrogen little corpuscles which, passing to 

 a reddish-white, give brilliancy to the flame. Of the three acids, two 

 were, by their physical properties, that is to say, by their consistence 

 and whiteness, in the best condition possible for making the wax candles. 

 The third, on the contrary, by its extreme fluidity, was an obstacle that 

 it was necessary to surmount. Its reddish colour, the volatile matters 

 that it contained, the smoke that is disengaged by an excess of carbon, 

 rendered it unadapted for luxurious lighting. These principles once 

 laid down, we perceive the means they used to obtain, in their purity, 

 the stearic and margaric acids ; they mixed the melted tallow with a 

 base of soda or potash, and they thus got rid of the glycerine, which 

 could be of no use. By adding a certain quantity of sulphuric acid, 

 which has an extreme affinity for bases, they formed a sulphate of soda, 

 and the three fat acids were set at liberty in a state of paste ; the solid 

 crystals of the stearic and margaric acids containing in their network the 

 fluid oleic acid. An energetic pressure disengaged it mechanically, and 

 the two acids remained pure in a state of white matter like alabaster, solid 

 enough, and fusible at about 55°. Towards 1835, the application com- 

 menced on a great scale at the Usine de VEtoile, extended into Germany, 

 where the Austrians distinguished themselves notably in the manufac- 

 ture, which established itself in England, where the powerful firm of 

 Price and Co. produce immense quantities of fat acids, and now all 

 nations make large quantities of the stearine wax candle, more or less 

 handsome, particularly since the economical method of distillation has 

 allowed a decrease in the price by making use of matters of less value, 

 such as palm oil and all kinds of inferior fats. 



The manufactory at Clichy, the description of which will give us an 

 opportunity of furnishing a detailed account of the making of candles, 

 is the last established. The company has studied rather to introduce 

 processes for the purpose of bringing the manufacture to perfection, than 

 the erection of one of those immense buildings that swallow up the 

 1 mlk of the capital, leaving little or no residue for the carrying on of 

 the business. The tallow factory, however, is necessarily a vast edifice, 

 and its chimney is one of the highest. The only object of the company 

 has been the manufacture of irreproachable products, and to raise the 



