672 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



Hints about Candles. 



A little inquiry into the nature of flame, 

 teaches some important facts in the manufac- 

 ture of candles, not always well understood. 



1. Flame is perfectly transparent. It is true 

 we do not see common objects through it, be- 

 cause the bright light of the flame eclipses all the 

 fainter lightof objects beyond. The transparency 

 is proved by the fact that the fl;ane of a candle 

 never casts a shadow, when placed betv/een 

 another candle and. the wall; and also by the 

 fact that an oblong or flat flame gives precisely 

 as much light seen edgewise or with its broad 

 side. 



2. The brightness and combustion are all at 

 the outside. The interior consists merely of 

 the c/as, which is constantly manufacturing 

 from the tallow, the heat and light being at the 

 outer surface of this portion of the gas, when 

 it is in contact with the oxygen of the air. 

 This maybe proved by holding apiece of paper 

 for a moment across the flame, when the outer 

 or hot portion will burn a ring in the paper, 

 leaving the interior uninjured. Or it may be 

 shown by quickly and dexteriously thrusting 

 the point of a phosphorous match into the 

 interior of the flame, where it will not be 

 lighted, the wood merely being burned oif by 

 the outer heat. 



3. These facts explain wdiy an unsnufifed 

 candle gives so little light. The large black 

 snuiF hides the light of a Inrge part of the 

 transparent flame — the consumpti<m of tallow 

 being always the same in either case, according 

 to experiment. 



4. For the same reason, a large, loose wick, 

 by giving a broad black siinff to the candle, 

 produces a great loss of light for the amount 

 of tallow consumed. A smaller, compactly 

 twisted v,-iek, is more agreeable to the eye and 

 more economical. The large wick produces a 

 tall flickering blaze, often tin-owing off smoke. 



The smaller, compact wick, on the other 

 hand, gives a more compact flame, which never 

 flickers nor throws off smoke. Hence the 

 latter is less injurious to the eyes. The large 

 hot vdck often causes the tallow to run down 

 the candle, although, all candles are liable to 

 this difficulty if carried about. 



A small wick feeds the melted tallow to the 

 fl.ame more slowly than a large one, and conse- 

 quently the small wick candles burn the longest. 

 In consequence of the black snuif, imperfect 

 combustion, and waste by smoke, a large wick 

 gives but little more light than a small one, 

 yet, experiments show that the tallow is con- 

 sumed about twice as fast, being nearly in the 

 proportion of 35 to GO or 70 minutes in the 

 consumption of an inch of candle, while the 

 amount of useful light from the latter is nearly 

 equal to that of the former— saving nearly 50 

 per cent. Therefore, a family which consumes 

 yearly twelve dollars worth of the first de- 

 scribed sort, need not require more than about 

 seven dollars of the latter. 



The best candles we have tried, had a wick 

 made offour cords ofcommon cotton pack-thread, 

 twisted together for a candle three-fourths of 

 inch in diameter. This will give an idea of 

 the proper size of the wick, yet it tnay without 

 inconvenience be smaller. It is much better, 

 both for the eyes and for convenience and 

 economy, to burn two candles at once with 

 small wicks and a clear steady light, than one 

 only with a large one, giving off a large, danc- 

 ing, smoking flame. 



All these remarks are intended to apply to 

 the use of good, pure tallow — a bad material 

 will fail in any case. — Abridged from Country 

 Gentleman. 



From the Canadian .Agriculitirist. 



Evils of Over-feeding Stock. 



For many years grave objections have been 

 repeatedly urged against the practice of the 

 excessively artificial system of feeding cattle, 

 shee]: , and pigs for the exhibition of fat stock, 

 especially the Smithfield Christmas Show in 

 London. An elaborate and scientific report on 

 rigid examinations of certain animals which 

 took premiums at the last Smithfield Exhibi- 

 tion, has just been published, and which can- 

 not fail to awaken general attention to this 

 subject. The report is the production of Mr. 

 Gant, Assistant Surgeon to the Royal Free 

 Hospital, whose knovvdedge of general and 

 comparative anatomy, and well known ftimili- 

 arity with the use of the microscope entitles 

 his statements to respect. His microscopical 

 observations are confirmed by the celebrated 

 Professor Q,ueckett, Curator of the Royal Col- 

 lege of Surgeons. 



After describing the living appearance of 

 certain prize animals at the Show, such as cat- 

 ,tle, sheep, and pigs, some of them owned by 

 the Prince Consort and the Duke of Richmond, 

 all monstrously fa,t, and exhibiting great diffi- 

 culty in breathing, Mr. Gant observes: — 

 " Throughout the exhibition one circumstance 

 particularly arrested my attention. It was the 

 size of the animals compared with their re- 

 spective ages. The bullocks averaged from 

 two to three years ; the pigs and sheep were 

 about one year old. When I contrasted the 

 enormous bulk of each animal with the short 

 period in whicli so much fat or flesh had been 

 produced, I certainly indulged in physiologi- 

 cal reflection on the high pressure work against 

 time wdiich certain internal organs, as the 

 stomach, liver, heart, and lungs must have un- 

 dergone at such a very early age. I therefore 

 resolved to follow up those animals to their 

 several destinations, and to inspect their con- 

 dition after death.'' Mr. Gant was admitted 

 to the slaughter houses when the gold and sil- 

 ver prize bullocks, heifers, pigs, and sheep, 

 that remained in London, were killed, and af- 

 ter carefully removing the heart, lungs, liver, 



