242 
PHOSPHORUS  AND  MATCH  MANUFACTURES. 
at  2j  inches,  the  total  length  of  these  would  far  exceed  the 
circumference  of  the  earth.  In  London  a  single  saw-mill  cuts 
up  400  large  timbers  annually  to  make  splints  for  matches.  It 
has  been  estimated  that  from  12,000  to  15,000  gross  of  boxes  of 
matches  are  produced  weekly  in  London,  indicating  a  production 
of  5,000,000,000  of  matches  yearly  in  that  city.  And  another 
calculation  has  been  made  that  the  whole  length  of  waxed  cotton 
wicks  consumed  by  one  London  manufacturer  in  the  production 
of  "  Vestas "  would  be  sufficient  to  reach  from  England  to 
America  and  back  again.  One  pound  of  phosphorus  is  sufficient 
for  tipping  1,000,000  of  German  matches,  or  for  000,000  English 
ones. 
The  yearly  consumption  of  phosphorus  in  the  manufacture  of 
matches  in  this  country  has  been  estimated  at  6  tons,  which,  at 
a  price  of  2s.  6d.  a  pound,  amounts  to  a  value  of  1680?.  ;  and 
of  chlorate  of  potash,  26  tons.  A  single  merchant  of  London 
imports  8000  cwt.  of  cases  of  matches  yearly.  In  1854,  20,000?. 
worth  of  matches  came  into  this  country  from  the  city  of  Ham- 
burg alone.  We  import  at  the  present  time  at  least  1500  tons 
of  matches  a-year  from  Sweden  only.  It  has  been  estimated 
that  60,000?.  worth  of  matches  are  imported  yearly  into  Great 
Britain, — equal  to  200,000,000  of  matches  daily  ;  and  that 
our  daily  consumption  approaches  the  enormous  number  of 
250,000,000,  or  more  than  8  matches  each  day  for  every  indi- 
vidual in  the  kingdom.  In  Belgium,  the  consumption  of  matches 
has  been  calculated  to  be  9  matches  per  day  for  every  living 
person. 
In  France,  the  manufacture  of  matches  is  very  extensive. 
Paris  alone  employs  1,000  operatives,  and  produces  990,000,000 
of  boxes,  worth  in  total  7200?.  yearly.  In  Sweden  there  are  6 
or  more  manufactories  of  matches  ;  in  one  of  them,  in  1848, 
there  was  employed  about  400  workpeople,  and  produced  between 
8,000,000  and  10,000,000  of  matches  daily. 
But  the  greatest  seat  of  match-making  is  located  in  Austria, 
where  there  are  numerous  manufactories  which  produce  many 
millions  per  day  of  phosphorus  matches :  for  instance,  those  of 
M.  Pollak,  at  Vienna,  and  M.  Fiirth  in  Bohemia,  consumes  to- 
gether about  20  tons  of  phosphorus  annually,  and  give  employ- 
ment to  about  6000  persons ;  and  as  one  pound  of  phosphorus 
