Wax candles

—Next to tallow, the substance most employed in the manufacture of candles is wax. Wax candles are made either by the hand or with a ladle. In the former case, the wax, being kept soft in hot water, is applied bit by bit to the wick, which is hung from a hook in the wall; in the latter, the wicks are hung round an iron circle, placed immediately over a large copper-tinned basin full of melted wax, which is poured upon their tops, one after another, by means of a large ladle. When the candles have by either proce acquired the proper size, they are taken from the hooks, and rolled upon a table, usually of walnut-tree, with a long square instrument of box, smooth at the bottom. A few years ago I made a set of experiments upon the relative intensities of light, and duration of different candles, the results of which are contained in the following table. | Number in a pound. | Duration of a candle. | Weight in grains. | Consump- tion per hour in grains. | Propor- tion of light. | Economy of light. | Candles equal one Argand. | | h. | m. | | | | | | | 10 | mould | 5 | 9 | | 682 | 132 | 12 | 1⁄4 | 68 | | 5 | ·7 | | 10 | dipped | 4 | 36 | | 672 | 150 | 13 | | 65 | 1⁄2 | 5 | ·25 | | 8 | mould | 6 | 31 | | 856 | 132 | 10 | 1⁄2 | 59 | 1⁄2 | 6 | ·6 | | 6 | ditto | 7 | 2 | 1⁄2 | 1160 | 163 | 14 | 2⁄3 | 66 | | 5 | ·0 | | 4 | ditto | 9 | 3 | ·6 | 1707 | 186 | 20 | 1⁄4 | 80 | | 3 | ·5 | | Argand oil flame | — | — | 512 | 69 | ·4 | 100 | | | A Scotch mutchkin, or 1 ⁄ 8 of a gallon of good seal oil, weighs 6010 gr., or 13 1 ⁄ 10 oz., avoirdupois, and lasts in a bright Argand lamp 11 hours 44 minutes. The weight of oil it consumes per hour is equal to 4 times the weight of tallow in candles 8 to the pound, and 1 ⁄ 7 the weight of tallow in candles 6 to the pound. But, its light being equal to that of 5 of the latter candles, it appears from the above table that 2 pounds weight of oil, value 9 d. in an Argand, are equivalent in illuminating power to 3 pounds of tallow candles, which cost about two shillings. The larger the flame in the above candles the greater the economy of light. In June, 1825, M. Gay Lu ac obtained a patent in England for making candles from margaric and stearic acids , improperly called stearine , by converting tallow into the above fat acids by the following proce :—Tallow consists, by Chevreul’s researches, of stearine, a solid fat, and elaine, a liquid fat; the former being in much the larger proportion. When tallow is treated with an alkaline body, such as potash, soda, or lime, it is saponified; that is, its stearine and elaine become respectively stearic and elaic acids, and, as such, form compounds with these bases. When by the action of an acid, such as the sulphuric or muriatic, these combinations are decomposed, the fats reappear in the altered form of stearic and elaic acids; the former body being harder than tallow, and of a texture, somewhat like spermaceti, the latter body being fluid, like oil. “The decomposition of the soap should be made,” says the patentee, “in a large quantity of water, kept well stirred during the operation, and warmed by steam introduced in any convenient way. When the mixture has been allowed to stand, the acid of the tallow or fat will rise to the surface, and the water being drawn off will carry the alkaline or saline matters with it; but, if the acids of the tallow should retain any portion of the salts, fresh water may be thrown upon it, and the whole well agitated, until the acids have become perfectly free from the alkaline matters; and, when allowed to cool, the acids will be formed into a solid ma . This ma is now to be submitted to considerable pre ure in such an apparatus as is employed in expre ing oil from seeds; when the liquid acid will run off in the form of a substance resembling oil, leaving a solid matter, similar, in every respect, to spermaceti, which is fit for making candles.” The wick to be used in the manufacture of these improved candles, and which forms one of the features of this invention, is to be made of cotton yarn, twisted rather hard, and laid in the same manner as wire is sometimes coiled round the ba strings of musical instruments. For this purpose, straight rods or wires are to be procured, of suitable lengths and diameters, according to the intended size of the candles about to be made; and these wires, having been covered with cotton coiled round them, as described, are to be inserted in the candle moulds as the common wicks are; and when the candle is made, and perfectly hard, the wire is to be withdrawn, leaving a hollow cylindrical aperture entirely through the middle of the candle. See Stearine .