The Savannah morning news., 1900-09-01

deep mines Of Nevada often reaches i2o
degrees and even 100 degrees A good
stearic ncid candle will Withstand a tenn
peraiure Of from Is degrees to 10 degrees
l more than this
The stearic acid candle. which r. now
i the principal candle OF trade. represents
1 the high-watcr mark Of the progress IN
candle making which began seventy years
ago. Unlike It's primitive predecessor.
I tue talloW dip, u Is a product OF scientific
study and one Of the many triumps Of
philosophic chemistry The movement
/ which effected a complete revolution In
tho industry. and ran rapid growth att
| er once o. WAS start@d was an outcome OF
| the discoveries or NJ. r. Chevreul. the
| French chemist, published 10 the world in
la-si in his book. "Rechcrches sur les Corps
| aras dOriglne Animate" In Il lies the
/ foundation Of an our present knowledge
Of the chemistry OF fatty oils. and this
knowledge Is the starting point Of modern
candlemaking. Chevreul established the
scientific fact that. as a rule. all fatty
oils. both liquid and solid are neutral
compounds OF glycerine and the so-called
! fatty acids. In candle fats these acids
are stearic and oleic
Stearic acid Is a crystalline substance,
| unctuous 20 the touch but not greasy IL
meits at temperature a little short OF
| 10 degrees and when burned through a
wick gives out white and clean light
oleic acid IL liquid at common temporal
| lures. and WINS the cause OF the MELT
4 ing Of the old taiiow candles az tempera-
/ ture . degrees lower than e. withstood
/ by pure etearic acid The Elycerine
| base caused them 20 burn yellow and 10
smoke with an offensive odor The dis
covery of the chemical properties OF these
constituent elements of candle tat led with
a single step to the fundamental idea OF
the improvement In candle making: oleic
F.. acid and glyccrine are deletoriOus to the
candle. and must be removed: and all the
steps since taken-and they followed hard
on the heels OF the first-have looked 10
the doing Of this In the most expeditions
and cheap manner. and the perfection OF
! the molding machinery.
Naturally the first processes were
hsmical bu; they put a great obstacle
Of costliness In the way Of the manufac-
ture. which almost proved fatal The
early Industry. after surrounding the
difficulty by combining mechanical means
with chemical In separating and purify
| ing the fats again came near suffering
shipwreck from another cause. IL was
found By the French chambers, TO whom
belongs much credit for developing as
wei as originating the modern method.
Z
mold erystallizsd and the candles became
unslghtly. brittle and uneven OF combus-
ton The remedy appeared 20 lie In break
ing the grain of the acid and this was
done by the introduction OF powder.
Unfortunately. white arsenic was the
- WIDER chosen. and the result was so
naiicr,i,iy injurious 10 sSs.'ss. '..=t EhaT-
reurs discoveries were brought into dis
repute. and the early part 81 stearlc acid
..s4NNa lat
Better study found "A simple and harm
less remedy TO lie IN lowering the tenn
perature OF the acid before pouring II
into the mold and in heating the mold TO
receive H. improvements were also sue
cessively made In the methods OF pre-
p,ring the fat, and when. finally, Amer
ican Ingenuity was brought to bear upon
the mechanical side Of the problem,
machine was developed out or sleur oe
Brcz's last-century mold that has mar
velouslv sfmplIhcd ana cheapened the
manufacture OF candles. The publication
OF the fat had done much 10 improve me
teombustion. and the smoke had been
abolished: the flame, too, had become
much brighter and clearer, and the snut-
ane Of the wick had become less neces-
earv for the combustion being more per-
| fert the wick whose only duty Is 70
conduct the oil 20 the flame. was more
nearly consumed. A little attention 20 'he
making OF wicks soon banishcd the snut-
fers and the snun tray 20 the curiosity
shops Of the antiquities.
The old-fashioned wicks We're Simply
tvsiated Cambaccres conceived the plan
~ mating them. with one strand lighter
~ 4 the others Ia the candle the WICK
& ent straight By the hardened fat but,
when releas by the flame &c frightened
s.raud draws the end Ct the wick over
10 one side so that Il ia brought In con
taet with the outer envelope OF the hamS
where the combustion Is most perfect De
cause OF the liberal supply OF oxygen
received from Asc air. ana thus the WICK
Is continuously consumed.