150  PHOSPHORUS  AND  MATCH  MANUFACTURES. 
The  phosphorus  match  did  not,  however,  at  once  acquire  the 
degree  of  perfection  it  now  possesses.  A  variety  of  substances 
were  tried  in  the  preparation  of  the  match-splints  and  in  the 
composition  of  the  inflammable  paste:  vegetable  wax,  bees'  wax, 
sulphur,  stearine,  oil,  and  fat  to  make  the  wood  ignite;  glue, 
gum,  and  sugar  to  make  the  mixture  adhere;  chlorate  of 
potash,  saltpetre,  sulphur,  sulphuret  of  antimony,  antimonial 
saffron,  red  lead,  and  peroxide  of  manganese  to'increase  the  com- 
bustibility ;  powders  of  charcoal,  cork,  pitch,  resin,  magnesia, 
lime,  or  chalk,  to  make  the  composition  more  porous;  powdered 
glass,  sand,  or  emery,  to  increase  the  friction  ;  and  vermillion, 
red  lead,  red  ochre,  prussian  blue,  smalts,  ultramarine  or  chro- 
mate  of  lead,  as  a  coloring  matter,  and  to  disguise  the  other  in- 
gredients. 
The  following  is  the  general  process  of  manufacture  of  match- 
es as  now  in  use: — The  wooden  splints  for  the  matches  are 
prepared  from  the  very  best  quality  of  pine  planks,  perfectly 
desiccated  at  a  temperature  of  400°  Fah.  Each  plank  is  cut 
into  about  thirty  blocks  about  eleven  inches  long,  four  and  a  half 
inches  wide,  and  three  inches  thick.  A  block  is  fixed  with  its 
small  end  downwards  between  two  uprights,  the  grain  of  the 
wood  being  horizontal.  A  frame,  having  fixed  upon  its  upper 
surface  about  thirty  lancets  one-eighth  of  an  inch  asunder,  with 
their  points  projecting  upwards  one-eighth  of  an  inch,  recipro- 
cates to  and  fro  beneath  the  end  of  the  block  of  wood  by  means 
of  a  crank,  and  in  doing  so  scores  the  whole  of  the  lower  surface 
of  the  block  with  a  number  of  parallel  cuts,  about  one-eighth  of 
an  inch  apart  and  one-eighth  of  an  inch  deep,  in  the  direction  of 
its  fibres.  Immediately  upon  this  a  sharp  blade,  or  scythe, 
swings  round  horizontally  beneath,  and  cuts  off  the  scored  sur- 
face to  the  thickness  of  one-eighth  of  an  inch,  in  the  form  of 
square  splints  four  and  a-half  inches  long,  which  fall  through  a 
shoot  into  a  room  beneath.  The  block  now  sinks  one  eighth  of 
an  inch  and  the  operation  is  repeated.  In  this  way  between  two 
and  three  millions  of  splints  are  readily  formed  by  steam  power 
in  a  single  day.  English  splints  are  of  two  sizes — large  and 
minikins  :  the  larger  ones  are  two  and  a  quarter  inches  long  (or 
double-length,  as  first  formed,  i.e.  four  and  a-half  inches),  and 
the  minikins  are  rather  shorter. 
