St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1889-06-01
THE LUCIFER MATCH.
Who Is EntiaD6d to the Honors Of
tn Inventionf


When the pursuits OF hunting and
fishing or other causes led primitive
man into tho colder regions of the
earth. the warmth Of fire for bodily
comfort, - we'll as for the preparation
of food. must have been one Of his
first necessities. and the artificial pro-
duction of it one Of the earliest OBJ
jects of his ambitious ingenuity.
Modern sayages in tropical and sub
tropical climates produce fire BY the
friction OF dry and innammable wood
rotated either by the hands or by q
bow closely resembling that employed
with u drill. Such q method of pro-
ducing fire works very we'll In dry
climates. while wood suitable for the
purpose Is abundant; but it IL evident
that it would not b 80 Satisfactory In
those countries where, with tho ex-
seption of q small part of the year.
dry wood is an object Of considerable
rarity. To q man In the early stages
Of civilization. the accidental produc-
ton of . spark Of fire by the conclusion
Of flints and iron-pyrites. or iron-stone.
may have suggested such q means for
the attainment Of his desired object;
and. 1t may DO added. the occurrence
Of these two minerals together. as is
often the case. gives great probability
TO such theory. The kindling Of .
fire by means OF dry grass was but one
step further. and followed naturally
upon the first discovery Of the acct
dental spark. The substitution Of flint
and iron-stonc for the friction of dry
wood in the production Of fire marks .
decided step in the advancement Of
civilization. The object was attained
with less expenditure Of time and Ia
Dor than by the old method. although
1t was Of course practicable only where
hints and iron-stones we're easily OBJ
tainable.
Man. rs several writer's have point
ed out, is the only fire-making animal.
Other animals have the skill to build
houses for protection from the weather
and from enemies; are swift in the
chase. and. in point Of strength. arc in
many cases superior to man. But this
particular attribute Of hre.producing
belongs to man alone. and. were there no
other mark OF distinction between him
and the brutes. this would Of itself
show him to belong to an order, In de-
gree at least. prominently above
them.
Among TIE very earliest specimens
Of mans fandiwork which have been
preserved for our examination-name-
ly, Clipped and wrought Aints-there
are to be found many that bear In the
character of their shapes and external
markings the clearcst possible evil
dences of having once served As strike
a-lights;" and in some cases the actual
fragments Of iron-pyrites with which
they were used have been found in
close proximity to then. thus indicat-
ing with . probability, which almost
amounts to certainty. the original use
to which they were applied. Among
many thousands Of palaolithic and
neolithic flint implements which we
have hac the opportunity OF closely ex-
amining. were = great many forms
which there is no hesitation in saying
belong to this class Many OF the
forms. which sometimes have been r.
garded Is 'scrapers" OF . rough and
uneven type. are nothing moro than
fints which have been 90 used. The
essential quality Of such q 6int was
that it should bs capable Of throwing
OF small splinters when brought in
sharp contact with a mass of iron
pyrites. The scraper-like form of
nint was particularly suited for such
. purpose. presenting . tolerably
acute angle to the object
upon which it was impinged.
Several specimens in our COL