rred
piece of wick which it was necessary to remove to make the candle burn
once more. Then, again, the extinction of a burning candle involved some
skill, and instruments were devised to effect this without causing
unpleasant odours or smoke to arise. Previous to the use of lanterns out
of doors, and oftentimes when halls and corridors were imperfectly
lighted, torches thrust into the open fire and thus lighted were used.
Extinguishers of iron were frequently erected near an outside door, or
added to the iron railings outside the house. These were for the purpose
of extinguishing links--many such are to be seen still outside old
London houses. They were the prototypes from which originated the
ordinary form of chamber candle extinguisher, frequently fastened to the
"stick" by a chain.

The extinguishers used in the early days of candles are known now as
snuffer-extinguishers, to distinguish them from snuffers (the old name
was _doubters_). In form they were not unlike scissors; the two circular
metal plates of which they were formed closed in and compressed the
wick, thereby extinguishing the light. The earlier snuffers had very
large boxes, and some were remarkably handsome, an exceptionally fine
example being shown in Fig. 17. They were discovered in an old house at
Corton, in Dorset, in 1768, and were described by a writer towards the
close of the eighteenth century thus: "They are of brass and weigh about
6 ounces. Their construction consists of two equilateral cavities, by
the edges of which the snuff is cut off and received into the cavity
from which it is not got out without much trouble." Snuffers of iron,
and later of steel, are the commoner forms, but they are frequently
of brass and of silver and Sheffield plate.

[Illustration: FIG. 16.--TWO WALNUT WOOD FLOOR-CANDLESTICKS.

(_In the collection of W. Egan & Sons, Ltd., of Cork._)]

The need of some convenient tray or receptacle for the snuffers, not
always over-clean when they had been used a few times, was met at first
by what are known as snuffer stands made of wrought metal, and often
very ornamental. Then came the oblong tray of convenient shape,
following in its decoration and ornament prevailing styles in other
domestic tin or metal work. In this connection it should be pointed out
that there are many varieties of taper holders and stands used for the
small wax tapers, then common on the writing table.

Oil Lamps.

Although oil had long been a