Lecture II.A Candle: Brightness of the FlamesAir Necessary for
CombustionProduction of Water WE were occupied the last time we
met in considering the general character and arrangement as
regards the fluid portion of a candle, and the way in which that
fluid got into the place of combustion. You see, when we have a
candle burning fairly in a regular, steady atmosphere, it will
have a shape something like the one shown in the diagram, and
will look pretty uniform, although very curious in its
character. And now I have to ask your attention to the means by
which we are enabled to ascertain what happens in any particular
part of the flame; why it happens; what it does in happening;
and where, after all, the whole candle goes to; because, as you
know very well, a candle being brought before us and burned,
disappears, if burned properly, without the least trace of dirt
in the candle stick, and this is a very curious circumstance. In
order, then, to examine this candle carefully, I have arranged
certain apparatus, t