An Encyclopedia of the History of Technology part 94. This one of a kind encyclopedia presents the entire field of technology from rudimentary agricultural tools to communication satellites in this first of its kind reference source. Following an introduction that discusses basic tools, devices, and mechanisms, the chapters are grouped into five parts that provide detailed information on materials, power and engineering, transportation, communication and calculation, and technology and society, revealing how different technologies have together evolved to produce enormous changes in the course of history | PART FIVE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY 1780 wax-tipped with phosphorus which was carried on the person sealed in a little glass tube when the tube was carefully broken it would ignite on contact with the air. The phosphorus box 1786 was first made in Paris as le briquetphosphorique. It contained sulphur matches a bottle coated internally with phosphorus and a cork. Friction was required for ignition. More dangerous still was the chlorate match also known as an acid-dip match the head of which was tipped with a mixture of chlorate of potash sugar and gum arabic. For ignition the head had to be dipped in vitriol sulphuric acid . The equipment for this type of ignition was enclosed in a small container called an instantaneous light box. Henry Bell s partly mechanized version of 1824 was little safer especially when operated by an awakened sleeper on a dark morning. A number of patents followed in the early nineteenth century. There were John Walker s friction lights of 1827 then Samuel Jones s Promethean match of 1828 and his lucifer of 1831. Then came the yellow phosphorus-tipped matches which ignited more readily sometimes too readily causing accidents. Yellow phosphorus also caused the terrible condition of phossy jaw suffered by match factory workers when it entered their bodies via defective teeth. Professor Anton von Schrotter s discovery of amorphous red phosphorus in 1845 led to the development of the safety match credited toJohn Lundstrom of Sweden in 1855. In this he divided the chemical constituents between the match head and the striking surface on the box so markedly reducing the chances of spontaneous combustion. Lighting A level of artificial illumination which enables people to continue their domestic activities as well during the hours of darkness as during those of daylight is a very recent boon applicable only to the twentieth century. Before the 1830s the only artificial light came from candles and oil lamps and the level of illumination was exceedingly
