PHOSPHORUS  AND  MATCH  MANUFACTURES.  243 
suffices  for  upwards  of  1,000,000  of  their  matches,  those  two 
makers  alone  produce  the  amazing  number  of  44,800,000,000  of 
matches  yearly.  In  the  year  1849,  there  was  exported  from 
the  port  of  Trieste  alone  nearly  200  tons  of  lucifer  matches, 
and  the  whole  produce  of  matches  in  Austria  in  that  year  was 
estimated  at  2500  tons. 
The  cost  at  which  both  boxes  and  matches  are  produced  is 
equally  startling.  M.  Furth  «  sells  his  cheapest  boxes  at  one 
penny  per  dozen,  each  box  containing  80  matches."  Peter 
Harrass,  of  Suhl,  in  Prussia,  sells  his  plain  boxes  at  twopence 
per  100,  and '1400  splints  for  one  farthing.  And  De  Majo,  of 
Moravia,  u  sells  a  case  of  50  boxes,  each  containing  100  lucifers, 
for  fourpence." 
Notwithstanding  the  great  and  universal  advantages  conferred 
upon  mankind  by  the  introduction  of  phosphorus  into  the  manu- 
facture of  matches,  it  is  not  without  some  serious  drawbacks. 
It  produces  a  most  painful  disease,  which  attacks  the  jaw-bones 
of  the  workpeople,  and  causes  them  to  decay,  until,  in  some 
cases,  they  are  entirely  destroyed.  The  disease  only  attacks 
the  operatives  who  are  exposed  to  vapors  arising  from  the 
match  composition, — chiefly  those  who  dip  the  splints,  also 
those  who  are  occupied  in  drying,  cutting,  and  boxing  the  dipped 
matches.  The  workmen  employed  in  other  parts  of  the  manu- 
facture are  wholly  unaffected.  The  disease  has  been  fearful  in 
Germany  and  France,  where  so  much  phosphorus  is  used  in  the 
match  composition,  so  much  so  as  to  excite  the  attention  of  the 
Governments  of  those  countries  ;  but  it  has  not  appeared  to  so 
great  an  extent  here.  It  may  be  considerably,  if  not  entirely 
prevented,  by  particular  attention  to  cleanliness  and  ventilation, 
which  has  been  already  proved  in  the  establishment  of  Mr.  Hy- 
nam,  of  London  ;  the  most  effectual  remedy,  however,  would 
consist  in  the  use  of  amorphous  phosphorus  instead  of  the  ordi- 
nary variety.  It  is  to  be  remarked,  that  in  the  manufacture  of 
the  phosphorus  itself,  the  experience  of  many  years  has  shown 
an  almost  complete  immunity  from  any  symptom  of  the  disease  ; 
this  may  be  partly  attributed  to  the  fact  that  the  substance  is 
kept  covered  with  water  from  its  first  production  to  the. vessels 
in  which  it  is  finally  packed  for  sale. 
Another  great  disadvantage  is,  that  ordinary  phosphorus  is 
