OIL-LAMPS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

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It will be noted that the light-sources throughout the early ages were flames, the result of burning material. This principle of light-production has persisted until the present time, but in the latter part of the nineteenth century certain departures revolutionized artificial lighting. However, it is not the intention to enter the modern period in this chapter except in following the progress of the oil-lamp through its period of scientific development. The oil-lamp and the candle were the mainstays of artificial lighting throughout many centuries. The fats and waxes which these light-sources burned were many but in the later centuries they were chiefly tallow, sperm-oil, spermaceti, lard-oil, olive-oil, colza-oil, bees-wax and vegetable waxes. Those fuels which are not liquid are melted to liquid form by the heat of the flame before they are actually consumed. The candle is of the latter type and despite its present lowly place and its primitive character, it is really an ingenious device. Its fuel remains conveniently solid so that it is readily shipped and stored; there is nothing to spill or to break beyond easy repair; but when it is lighted the heat of its flame melts the solid fuel and thus it becomes an "oil-lamp." Animal and vegetable oils were mainly used until the middle of the nineteenth century, when petroleum was produced in sufficient quantities to introduce mineral oils. This marked the beginning of an era of developments in oil-lamps, but these were generally the natural offspring of early developments by Ami Argand.