TO DIVIDE THE FLAME OF A CANDLE.
Provide about a foot square of brass or iron wire gauze, of the fineness of thirty meshes to the square inch: lower the gauze upon the flame of a wax candle, which will not rise through the meshes, but in its place will be the inflammable smoke of the flame; apply to this a piece of lighted paper, and it will be kindled, and the candle will burn with flame above and beneath the gauze. In this case, the gauze so cools the flame, as to extinguish it; and upon this principle is constructed the Davy Safety Lamp, in which the light is surrounded with wire-gauze.
To vary this experiment, place a chip of camphor in the centre of a piece of wire-gauze about a foot square, and hold it over the flame of a candle or lamp; when the vapour of the camphor will burn brightly upon the lower surface of the gauze, but cannot rise through it in consequence of its cooling power. Thus, the camphor lies upon the gauze in an uninflamed state, though it is sufficiently heated to yield inflammable vapour to feed a flame beneath.