Class XXIX."i

PERFECTION OF MODERN CHEMICAL MATCHES.

633

therein represented as a short and stout fusil, sharpenedto a pointed edge on one side, and on the other having'two small curved handles, with a vacant space betweenthem for the hand; and a modification of this slurje fo *the steel continued to exist to the close of the history ofthe old-fashioned tinder-box. 5 * 1

It was not until after the middle of the seventeenthcentury that the discovery of phosphorus indicated aquicker or more certain means of procuring light or fire.In 1677, I)r. Hook, in one of his Cutler Lectures, de-scribed the effects of phosphorus, as they had beenrecently exhibited in England to the Hon. Robert Boyle and several other Fellows of the Royal Society , by DanielKrufft, “ a famous German chemist.” liven aftrr allthe earliest experiments, however, the new matter ap-peared to be regarded only as a curiosity, which Boyle entitled the “ Noctilnca ,” and “ a factitious self-sl iningsubstance,” procured but in very small quantities, antiwith great labour and time; the principal value of whichwas to supply a light in the night or in dark places, whenexhibited in glass vessels. It can scarcely be doubtedbut that some trial was made as to whether an ordinarymatch could he inflamed by the substance, but Boyle ’srecorded experiments refer only to the strength, the dif-fusion, and the continuance of the light.

After these notices of the older apparatus devised fo:procuring light, it will be an interesting inquiry trieflyto glance at the history of chemical matches. Andhere it may be first remarked that the transition fromthe tinder-box, with its flint and steel, to the elegan:friction-match, was not so simple as a superficial con-sideration of the subject might lead one to infer. In thedaily enjoyment of a luxury, we but too often forget thepersevering efforts which are always necessary to renderavailable the discoveries of the experimental philosopher,and take but little heed of him whose disinterested laboursare constantly bringing to light new truths from the hid-den hut inexhaustible stores of nature.

The perfecting of chemical matches has been accom-plished chiefly during the last thirty years, for before1820 scarcely any other method of producing Are wrs em-ployed than that of the well-known trio before alluded to,with which the ordinary sulphur match was inseparablyassociated.

Soon after this period Doebereiner made the remark-able discovery that finely-divided platinum (spongy plati-num) is capable of inflaming a mixture of hydrogen gasand atmospheric air, and he founded on this property ofplatinum the invention of the Instantaneous Light Appa-ratus, first known by the name of Doebereiner’s Hydro-gen-Lamp. This was greatly admired at that time, andis even now frequently employed, it having been againrecently applied to light an ordinary gas burner re-quired to be ignited at intervals during the day-time forthe purpose of sealing parcels and other similar objects.Although it was without any immediate influence on thedevelopment of the manufacture of chemical matches,which had before this time been repeatedly attempted,Doebereiner’s discovery appears, nevertheless, to have;attracted attention more generally to the subject, andthus, at least, to have contributed indirectly to their per-fection.

A method of producing ignition, proposed about thesame period, has never been generally adopted. It de-pends upon the property which certain compounds ofphosphorus and sulphur possess of inflaming whenslightly rubbed, in contact with the atmosphere. Forthis purpose about equal quantities of phosphorus andsulphur are fused together in a glass tube, which is tobe subsequently closed with a cork.t Upon opening tlietube, if a splinter of wood be dipped into the mass,so that a small quantity of the composition may adhereto the wood, it will become ignited when slightly rubbed

* Du Fresne , Glossarium , 173G, vi. col. 562, voce Sol. 3.f To those who would repeat this experiment, we wouldremark, that the fusion should be performed with greatcaution, inasmuch as the mixture frequently detonates atthe moment when the components enter into chemical com-bination.

on the cork used to close the phial. This apparatus,however, has become almost entirely obsolete.

The first important and permanent improvement in themeans of obtaining light consisted in covering the sul-phurized end of a match with a mixture of sugar andchlorate of potash ; which being deflagrated by im-mersion into concentrated sulphuric acid, communicatedthe inflammation to the underlying coating of sulphur.Many persons will call to mind the small glass phial con-taining asbestos moistened with concentrated sulphuricacid, which was usually fixed in a paper or tin boxhaving two compartments, one of which held the pre-pared matches. These matches were in all probabilityinvented in France , whence at least they were certainlyfirst introduced into England ; hut prior to their intro-duction Captain Manhv had been accustomed to em-ploy a similar mixture for firing a small piece of ord-nance for the purpose of conveying a rope to a strandedvessel; and indeed the composition was also described byParkes in his “ Chemical Catechism ”* amongst the expe-riments illustrative of combustion and detonation at theclose of the volume.

Exactly the same principle was involved in the pre-paration of the matches invented by Mr. Jones, of theStrand, and used for some time in England under thename of “ Prometheans,” but which do not appear tohave found their way to the Continent. These weremade of a roll of paper, into one end of which was placeda small quantity of a mixture of sugar and chlorate ofpotash, with a small tube (hermetically sealed), similarto those in which the leads of ever-pointed pencils arepreserved, containing a minute quantity of strong sul-phuric acid. By compressing the match with a pair ofpliers, sold for the purpose, or between two hard sub-stances (between the teeth, for example), the tube wascrushed, and the sulphuric acid came into contact withthe mixture, and ignited it. These matches, thoughvery convenient, were so expensive that they were notvery generally employed; but they certainly formed, asit were, the stepping-stone to the production of the fric-tion-match.

The first true friction-matches, or congreves, madetheir appearance about the year 1832. They had a coat-ing of a mixture of two parts of sulphide of antimonyand one part of chlorate of potash, made into a paste wit'igum-water, over their sulphurized ends, and were ignitedby drawing them rapidly between the two surfaces of apiece of folded sand-paper, which was compressed by thefinger and thumb.

The Reporters have not succeeded in learning with cer-tainty by whom the substitution of phosphorus for thesulphide of antimony was first suggested; the mixtureof the sulphide with chlorate of potash required so muchpressure to produce the ignition that it was frequentlypulled off from the match, and this substitution wastherefore an important improvement.! The phosphorusmatches or lucifers appear indeed to have been intro-duced contemporaneously in different countries about theyear 1834. In Germany they were first manufactured on alarge scale in the Grand Duchy of Hesse, and especiallyin Darmstadt , where Dr. Moldeuhauer, in particular,contributed much to the improvement of this branch ofindustry.

From Darmstadt the manufacture was gradually ex-tended throughout Germany ; but its progress was atfirst very slow, on account of the lucifer-match beingprohibited, until the year 1840, in Bavaria , Brunswick,Hanover, and various other states, on account of thealleged increased risk of fire consequent upon its employ-ment. At present, however, there are manufactoriesestablished in Vienna , Prague , Triesch, Schiittenhofen,and Goldenkron, Berlin, Nuremberg , Ludwigsburg , Ulm,Gmiind, Waniemiinde, and numerous other places.

According to Dr. Moldenhauer and Professor Schrdttev

* Third Edition, 1808, p. 563.

t Detonating mixtures of chlorate of potash with eithersulphide of antimony or phosphorus, are described inParkes’s Chemical Catechism, 10th"Edit., published in 1S22;and the latter in the 3rd Edition (1808).