PHOSPHORUS  AND  MATCH  MANUFACTURES.  147 
tory  be  placed  where  coal  is  cheaply  obtained ;  and  the  quantity 
of  phosphorus  produced  in  all  France,  at  the  date  of  Dr.  Kane's 
book,  is  not  likely  to  have  been  at  all  more  than  20,000  lbs.  It 
is  plain  that,  by  mistake,  a  cypher  too  many  has  been  added. 
.Reserving  a  few  remarks  upon  the  importance  of  the  labors  of 
Brandt,  Boyle  and  others  who  investigated  phosphorus,  until  the 
close  of  this  article,  I  will  now  give  a  brief  account  of  the  gradual 
development  and  present  condition  of  the  lucifer  match  manu- 
facture. 
The  earliest  recorded  means  of  obtaining  a  light  appears  to 
have  been  by  means  of  rubbing  together  two  dry  sticks.  A  hole 
having  been  made,  by  means  of  a  sharp  stone,  in  a  dry  piece  of 
wood,  and,  by  the  same  means,  a  piece  of  stick  of  different  wood 
— laurel  with  ivy  for  instance — having  been  cut  to  a  point  at  one 
end,  the  sharp  point  was  inserted  in  the  hollow,  and  rapid  rota- 
tion imparted  to  it  by  means  of  the  hands,  similar  to  the  motion 
of  a  chocolate  stirrer,  until,  in  a  few  minutes,  the  friction  of  the 
point  generated  sparks,  from  which  fire  was  obtained.  Sul- 
phured matches  also  are  of  very  ancient  origin. 
The  next  method — that  of  the  common  flint  and  steel — was 
in  use  for  centuries,  and  can  even  now  be  remembered  by  every 
adult  person.  It  consisted  in  striking  the  edge  of  a  small  piece 
of  flint  against  the  edge  of  a  rod  of  iron  or  hardened  steel,  in  such 
a  direction  that  the  sparks  which  occurred  fell  upon  pieces  of 
tinder  (charred  linen),  contained  in  a  shallow  tin  vessel,  and 
ignited  them.  By  gently  blowing  the  ignited  tinder,  the  com- 
bustion spread  and  became  sufficient  to  inflame  a  sulphured 
match.    If  the  tinder  was  at  all  damp,  it  failed  to  ignite. 
The  discovery  of  phosphorus  in  1669,  with  its  luminous  and 
igniting  properties,  at  once  indicated  the  possibility  of  use- 
ing  it  to  obtain  a  light ;  but  no  successful  experiments  of  the 
kind  at  that  period  have  been  recorded.  It  was  not  until  1833 
that  it  was  successfully  applied.  In  the  mean  time,  a  number 
of  inventions  for  obtaining  a  light,  some  involving  the  use  of 
phosphorus,  and  others  not,  were  adopted  to  a  limited  extent. 
Phosphoric  tapers,  consisting  of  ordinary  wax  tapers,  with  their 
wicks  coated  with  phosphorus,  and  enclosed  in  air-tight  glass 
tubes,  were  for  some  time  in  use.    To  obtain  a  light  with  them 
