668 
rendering. Much depends upon this operation 
being performed as soon as possible after the tal- 
low comes from the hands of the butcher. If 
the tallow is allowed to remain for several days 
exposed to the action of the air—which must 
often happen to the inferior dealer, who receives 
his tallow in small quantities, and at consider- 
able intervals—part of it will corrupt and infal- 
libly injure the whole mass; but if the tallow is 
rendered soon after it comes from the slaughter- 
house, it may be kept for months or years, and 
even improved by keeping, provided the tem- 
perature is moderate. The object of this opera- 
tion, is to separate from the tallow the skin and 
fleshy parts which always adhere to it, and ex- 
pel, by evaporation, the aqueous particles. With 
this view, the tallow, after being cut into small 
| pieces, is thrown into a large boiler, and heat 
gradually applied. As the tallow melts, new 
| portions are added ; and particular care is taken 
to stir it frequently, in order to prevent the more 
solid parts from adhering to the bottom of the 
vessel. After boiling a considerable time, the 
more solid parts collect at the surface in the 
form of a cake, which is called the crackling ; 
part of the liquids have been driven off by the 
boiling, and the remainder subsides to the bot- 
tom after the boiling ceases. The cake is then 
put into a press, and great pressure applied, in 
order to extract from it every particle of tallow ; 
it is afterwards set aside to be sold for food to 
dogs and other animals. The liquid tallow is 
taken from the boiler and put into an adjoining 
vessel, by making it pass through an iron sieve, 
by which means any of the solid parts which 
have not united with the cake are separated 
from the liquid mass. Still, however, many 
foreign substances will remain blended with it; 
and in order to purify it still more, the tallow is 
put into another vessel, and a certain quantity 
of water mixed with it. The water being speci- 
fically heavier than the tallow, sinks to the bot- 
tom, and carries along with it any impurities 
which may have escaped the operation of the 
sieve. After standing a sufficient time for the 
impurities to settle, this tallow is transferred, by 
means of tinned iron buckets, into tubs of a 
moderate size, and allowed to congeal. It is then 
taken out of the tub in a solid state, and piled 
up for future use. In transferring the tallow 
from the large vessel into the tubs, care must be 
taken not to agitate it too much, lest the slimy 
matter connected at the bottom rise and mix 
with it again. To prevent this, the workmen 
usually cease emptying the vessel when they 
come within an, inch or more of the slimy mat- 
ter, which they readily discover by its muddy 
white colour. The residue of the tallow is al- 
lowed to remain in the vessel during the night, 
and in the morning it is taken out in a solid 
state, and set apart to be re-melted with new 
tallow. 
After having sorted and purified the tallow in 
CANDLE. 
the manner above described, the candlemaker 
proceeds to cut and arrange the wicks, which, 
with the exception of such as are intended for 
the coarser dipped candles—are made of fine 
spun cotton. The cotton usually employed is 
chiefly obtained from Turkey, and comes into 
the hands of the candlemaker in the form of 
skeins. Four or more of these skeins, according 
to the intended thickness of the wick, are wound- 
off at once into bottoms or clews, and afterwards 
cut, by means of a very simple machine, into 
pieces of a particular length, corresponding to 
the size of the intended candle. Before putting 
the wicks into the moulds, or placing them on || 
the sticks for dipping, it is usual to dress them, © 
by slipping them between the fingers and thumb, 
with the view of laying the threads smooth, and 
removing knots and such foreign substances as 
might injure the candles. Even after this dress- 
ing, it is difficult, in consequence of the shrink- 
ing of the cotton, to keep the wicks, when placed 
upon the broaches, completely separate from 
each other. To obviate this inconvenience, it is 
usual to take a great number of wicks into the 
hand, and dip them into melted tallow. After 
rubbing them between the palms of the hand, 
and allowing the tallow which adheres to har- 
den, they may be arranged with ease upon the 
broaches. 
We shall now describe the process of dipping 
and moulding. The dipping-room is furnished 
with three important pieces of apparatus, viz., 
a boiler for melting the tallow,—the dipping- 
mould,—and a large wheel for supporting the | 
broaches. The first part of the process must 
obviously consist in remelting the tallow which | 
had been previously rendered and set aside in a | 
solid state. The expense and trouble of remelt- 
ing is sometimes saved by commencing the ope- 
ration of dipping immediately after the render- 
ing, or before the tallow cools; but the saving 
thus effected is not to be compared with the 
advantage gained by employing tallow of differ- 
ent ages. We are told, that a mixture of tallow | 
recently rendered, with some of ten or twelve 
months standing, is the best for making either 
dipped or moulded candles. The melted tallow, 
after being carefully skimmed, is transferred 
into the dipping-mould, by means of ladles or 
small buckets, in such quantities as may be re- 
quired. The dipping-mould is a box of an ob- 
long form, lined with lead, of about three feet in 
length, two in breadth, and two feet in depth, 
erected on a frame at such a height as to suit 
the convenience of the workman who sits on a 
chair beside it. To the extremities of the box 
are sometimes attached two leaves or boards, 
to receive the droppings of the candles as they 
rise successively from the dipping-mould. This 
additional piece of apparatus may, however, be 
dispensed with, provided the workman is careful 
to raise the candles slowly from the liquid mass, 
or to allow the suspended drops again to touch 
3 
