RE SEN 
CANDLE. 
of walnut-tree, with a long square instrument of 
box smooth at the bottom. As the candles must 
be rolled one by one, in order to preserve their 
warmth, and keep the wax soft, those made with 
the ladle are laid, previous to the rolling, ina 
feather-bed folded in two, at convenient distances 
from one another. The same precaution is not 
so necessary with the candles made by the hand, 
as they may be rolled just as they are formed. 
A candle differs from a lamp, chiefly in the cir- 
cumstance, that the tallow, or wax, is melted 
gradually and in small quantities, and is retained 
in a cup formed by the solid part of the candle. 
As this cup must obviously be of very small 
dimensions, it is of the last consequence that 
the quantity of matter melted never exceed the 
power of the wick to absorb it, otherwise the 
candles will gutter. The size of the wick, there- 
fore, must always be proportioned to the fusi- 
bility of the substance employed ; the more fusi- 
ble substance obviously requiring the larger wick. 
Of the two substances commonly used, wax is 
the least fusible. Tallow melts at 92° of Fahren- 
heit, spermaceti at 133°, and bleached wax at 
155°. The flame of wax is less brilliant than 
that of tallow, which is supposed to be owing 
to the wax being already combined with a por- 
tion of oxygen. This disadvantage, however, is 
more than compensated by its being less fusible ; 
by which means a smaller wick may be used, 
which not only affords the advantage of a clear 
perfect flame, but, in consequence of its flexi- 
bility, it naturally falls to one side, and, by thus 
coming in contact with the air, is burnt to ashes. 
The wick of the tallow candle being much larger, 
preserves its position in the centre of the flame, 
which is less perfect, from its internal part not 
being completely exposed to the action of the air. 
As the burning proceeds, the wick lengthens, 
and, consequently, the distance between its top 
and the point of the flame diminishes; from 
which it follows, that the oil which issues from 
the extremity of the wick, having a smaller por- 
tion of flame to pass through, will be less per- 
fectly burnt, and will pass off partly in smoke. 
The wick soon rises above the top of the flame; 
| but, owing to its size, and the quantity of oil 
which it contains, it is not converted into ashes, 
and dissipated, as in the case of the wax candle. 
On the contrary, the half decomposed oil is con- 
verted into a kind of coal, or soot, which gra- 
dually accumulates upon the top of the wick, 
and assumes the appearance of a fungus. In 
order, therefore, that a tallow candle may burn 
with any degree of clearness, constant snuffing 
is requisite. 
From the above statement, it appears, that 
the chief difficulty in improving the burning of 
the tallow candles, arises from the great fusi- 
bility of the tallow. Several attempts have been 
made to remove, or at least to lessen, the evil, 
but none of them have completely succeeded. 
Various methods of purifying the tallow, and 
CANDLEBERRY MYRTLE. 
rendering it more firm and compact, are in use. 
In all these processes, alum seems to be the chief 
agent, to which is sometimes added nitre and 
sal ammoniac. In order to give tallow the ap- 
pearance of wax, quicklime is used in purifying 
it, and sometimes vinegar. The tallow thus pre- 
pared, when mixed with an equal portion of wax, 
makes very beautiful candles. Several attempts 
have been made to deprive tallow of the bad 
smell, but none of them have completely suc- 
ceeded. A decoction of rosemary, sage, laurel, 
and wild mint, has been used; and the powder 
of charcoal has been suggested. The former, 
however, it is likely, only conceals the odour 
without removing it, and, at any rate, could 
scarcely be employed on a great scale. The wax 
extracted from the fruit of the wax-tree, when 
mixed with a portion of common wax, or, what 
is better, with tallow, makes excellent candles, 
which diffuse an agreeable odour in burning. 
Candles have also been made of the butter of the | 
cocoa-nut, and of an oil extracted from the brain 
of the whale, which, after being exposed to the 
air, soon acquires a considerable degree of con- 
sistence. Candles made of the latter material 
are covered with a slight varnish; those made | 
from the cocoa burn with a clear steady flame, 
and last much longer than tallow candles. Stearine 
candles are moulded from the harder or fatty 
portions of tallow, excluding the oily particles ; 
sperm candles, from purified spermaceti. Both 
these kinds of candles requiring a higher tem- 
perature to soften them, are well adapted to tropi- 
cal climates. Tallow candles were long subject to 
an excise duty of 1d. per pound, and those made | 
of wax and spermaceti to a duty of 33d. per pound. | 
This duty was repealed on the lst of January 
1832. In 1830 its nett produce was £482,413, 
levied on 115,586,192 lbs. of tallow, and 1,265,113 
Ibs. of wax and spermaceti candles. 
CANDLEBERRY MYRTLE,—botanically My- 
rioa. A genus of ornamental shrubs, of the am- 
entaceous order. The sweet gale, or British spe- 
cies, Myrica Gale, grows wild on the bogs of 
England, and on the boggy moors and heathy 
mountains of Wales and Scotland; it is raised 
in public nurseries, and allowed a place in pri- 
vate shrubberies; and it makes a conspicuous 
and very diversified figure in popular adaptations 
to economical purposes. Numerous stems of it 
rise from one root-stool, attain a height of about 
four feet, and ramify each into several slender 
branches. Its leaves are stiff and lanceolate ; 
they measure about an inch and a half in length, 
and about half an inch in extreme breadth, or 
across the middle; they are smooth on the sur- 
face, and a little serrated at their points; and 
they have a light yellowish green colour, a bitter 
taste,and a grateful fragrance similar tothat of the 
leaves of myrtle. The catkins are produced from 
the side of the branches, and appear in May; and 
the berries are small and clustered, and ripen in 
autumn. The leaves were formerly used by some 
