Part 66

This was probably man’s first method of producing fire. By rubbing two sticks together in this way sufficient heat was produced to set fire to easily burnable material such as dried grass, etc.]

An improvement came when man learned that by twirling a dry stick in a hole in another piece of dry wood the fire could be started more quickly.]

How Man Discovered Fire

Fire was probably one of man’s first, if not the first, great discoveries, and has been one of his greatest servants as well as one of his greatest dangers. We do not know who discovered fire, or what nation first used it. It is, however, one of the signs that distinguishes man from the other animals. Not any of the lower animals was acquainted with the use of fire, while probably the earliest races of mankind seem to have been acquainted with it.

Mythology tells us wonderful stories of the origin of fire: according to these tales it was stolen from the sun, or the gods, and given to man; and Pandora, the first woman, was sent down to earth to punish man for his theft.

The most popular of these stories is the legend of Prometheus. According to this legend, fire, in the early days, was under the exclusive control of the gods. Prometheus, brother of Atlas, the god who supported the world on his shoulders, determined that the use of fire should be given to the people. He decided by some means to send a spark of fire to the earth, believing that one spark caught by man would start a burning flame that would never go out.

With this idea in mind, Prometheus visited Zeus, the great ruler, to carry out his purpose, for Zeus controlled fire. While Zeus was not looking, Prometheus “stole some brands of fire from the hearth, which he hid in the stalk of a fennel and sent it down to the earth.” Through this Prometheus gave to man his first knowledge of fire.

But while this story of fire may or may not be true, the use of fire rests entirely with man and his ingenuity. Through his ingenuity man was able to subject fire to his will; making it perform certain of his labors; and to a certain extent making it his servant; although it always did and always will get beyond his control at times.

Our ancestors were not satisfied with preserving the fire which the gods gave them; they tried and succeeded in producing it. One day one of them discovered that by rubbing two sticks together rapidly, the friction would create a fire. It was a most useful discovery. Before long the whole of mankind had learned this trick; others improved on this crude method until step by step men learned that by striking two pieces of flint or other hard mineral together, quicker action was obtained.

Man’s ingenuity soon taught him that if he tied one end of a string to something and wrapped it around his drilling stick, one end of which was in a hole as in the first drilling picture, he could increase the rapidity of making fire.]

With some other to hold the drilling stick while he operated the string he was able to produce fire more quickly than he had ever done before.]

All kinds of methods were devised to increase knowledge of producing fire. The early Greeks found out how to catch the rays of the sun on a burning-glass and produce fire; the Romans achieved the same results through the use of mirrors.

This is another method man used for rubbing two pieces of wood together. In following this plan he usually used one stick of bamboo and rubbed it back and forth in a slot he had made in another piece of bamboo.]

In some places it was discovered that if you struck a piece of hard stone, like flint, against another, a spark was produced which could be caught on a bunch of dry grass or moss and so start a fire.]

In about A.D. 900, an Arab, named Bechel, discovered phosphorus, but it took almost 800 years more for Haukwitz to learn that when phosphorus was brought into friction with sulphur, fire would result. In another hundred years the world was benefited by the invention of the friction match--and since that time about one-half the people have been carrying matches about with them, able thus to start a fire easily any time.

~FIRE A MARK OF CIVILIZATION~

Fire and man’s knowledge of it have had much to do with man’s progress in civilization. Before man had fire, his life and movements were much like those of other animals. When man had learned to make a fire he was free to move and live anywhere and, therefore, people began to cover more territory.

THE INTRODUCTION OF THE FLINT AND STEEL METHOD

Because fire was so important to him, man kept on trying to make this task easier. He finally contrived a tinder box when iron and steel became known. The tinder box is where he kept his flint and the piece of steel which he struck upon the flint. He also kept in the box pieces of cloth or paper on which he caught the sparks so produced.]

This is a picture of a tinder box in the form of a pistol. It enabled man to produce sparks in greater numbers and more rapidly.]

This shows the method for striking the piece of steel against the flint to make the sparks fall on the cloth or paper in the box.]

This picture shows a very complete tinder box set used by the wealthy people in the old days. A man carried this outfit with him just as today he carries matches.]

THE OXYMURIATE MATCH

This match, the first, was introduced in 1505. It was a slip of wood tipped with a chemical mixture. To light it it was necessary to stick its head into a bottle containing acid.]

This was a paper cigarette dipped in a mixture of sugar and potash. Rolled within the paper was a tiny glass bulb filled with sulphuric acid. To light the match you pressed the bulb with pincers hard enough to break the bulb. This released the acid which set fire to the paper.]

What Would We Do Without Matches?

If one were to ask the man in the street what invention of the nineteenth century is his most constant and invaluable ally he might be mystified for the moment, but the undoubted answer would surely come in the single word “Matches.” These familiar objects, apart from their luxurious use by smokers, are the indispensable servants of mankind from the moment of rising in the morning till the household is wrapped in sleep, and it is to them we turn when disturbed in the hours of darkness.

Invented by John Walker in 1827. It consisted of a stick of wood tipped with sulphur and then with a chlorate mixture. To ignite it the match was drawn rapidly through a folded piece of sandpaper.]