The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1916-11-30
Illumination.

When in need of light We push
button and, presto! there was light"
thanks to electricity. Only little
while ago, however, We had to turn
a tap and apply a match before we
had light, and before gas light our
fathers and grandfathers struggled
along with kerosene lamps, which
seemed to them a big improvement
over the candles of their fathers.
Taking it by and large, we are pref
ty fortunate, living in such an ad
vanced age, but it was not always
so, as the development of illumina-
tion will show-our forbears deserve
a great deal of credit for their i'm
provements in artificial light.
A series of curious and apparent
ly disconnected objects displayed in
case in the new building of the
national museum at Washington, il
lustrate the fascinating story of light,
and Dr.. Walter Hough, curator in
charge, can tell much more concern
ing this interesting subject. Glanc-
ing into the case before reading the
labels one is apt tc wonder what it
is all about; there is an egg-shaped
object punched full of holes with a
small door in the top, a dried up
bird, tiny fish stuck into forked
stick, a bundle of sticks, some odd
stone and earthenware dishes, roll
of birch bark, waxed rope, and sew
eral old candles and lamps. But as
the labels are read a connected story
begins to unfold.
We can tell but little concerning
what man did for light before he
first made camp fires, because no re-
mains of man have been discovered
antedating the use of fire, but the
probably relied upon the moon and
stars to a great extent, and may
have been benefited in his nocturnal
work by heat lightning and polar
light, or by certain plants and ami
mails which emit phosphorescent
light. We know that fireflies were
used under the last division and that
this is still done in certain coun-
tries, for example, Siam and Brazil,
where the large and most brilliant
species occur.
Prof. Samuel P. Langley, late Sec
retary of the Smithsonian, found by
his researches that the light emitted
by the frefy was the cheapest and
most economical form of light
known to man. Could we but solve
the secret of it's production We would
have a brilliantly Illuminated world
at scarcely any expense whatever.
The first object in the national mu-
scum series, described above, is a
perforated cocoanut shell, which
when well-stocked with firef1ies
makes a very good lantern. This is
the only form of natural light known
to have been employed by man; prob
ably at about the same time he also
discovered that his camp fire was
portable, or that a burning brand
might be taken therefrom to light
him on his way. Bodies of fat birds
and fish, such as the stormy Petrol
and the candle fish, included in the
series were also burned for light, in
the Orkney Islands and in Alaska
respectively.
| Then came the forerunner of the
torch. including the rolled birch
bark, used by the Iroquois Indians,
and split fat pine knots from Vir-
ginia. The true torch was first made
by the Southern Indians, who used
bundles of splinters Of fat pine
knots. while the Malays manufacture
| ed torch of dammar gum, a resi-
nous substance, wrapping it in palm
| leaves. More candle-like lights fol-
lowed, developed in the Middle Ages
by Europeans, who soaked pieces OF
rope in resin and saturated. cords
and fbers with grease or wax. The