70 



THAT S IT : 



prevailed down to a very recent 

 period, as may be seen by the 



street lamp, 4, in which the oil 

 was lodged in a central vessel, 5, 



4 7 



300. 



an attempt being made to increase 

 the light by two flames, 6 ; the 

 same end was sought to be gained 

 in the hall, or shop lamp, 7, two 

 s nail wicks being burnt from a 

 lower tube, 8, 

 supplied with 

 oil from & reser- 

 voir, 9. In the 

 table lamp, 10, 

 the oil was con- 

 tained in a small 

 chamber, 11 ; the 

 flame became 

 feebler as the oil 

 diminished. All 

 these lamps, 

 smoked, flic Jeered, smelt disagree- 

 ably, varied, and were exceed- 

 ingly dirty and troublesome. 



301. 



The good King Alfred in- 

 vented lanterns, 12. # As there 

 were then no 

 clocks, he noted 

 the flight of time 

 by burning can- 

 dles, made of ex- 

 act dimensions, 

 and marked at re- 

 gular spaces, so 

 as to denote the 

 hours. The wind 302. 

 interfering with the regula- 

 rity of this measurement of 

 time, Alfred invented lanterns 

 to prevent the draughts from 

 wasting his candles. Before the 

 fifteenth century, candles were 

 made by monks, and by the ser- 

 vants of the nobility, but at that 

 time candle-making became a 

 trade. They were still, however, 

 made by merely dipping rushes 

 or cotton wicks into tallow or wax, 

 and not till three hundred years 

 afterwards were they east into 

 moulds. 



303. 



Except upon moon-lit nights, 



* The illustration has "been drawn from one of the 

 lanterns supposed to have belonged to King Alfred, 

 and still preserved. 



