Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/167

CANDLE. 135 CANDLE-NUT. flame: and thus, by coming in contact with the oxygen of the air, to be completely burned — for such combustion cannot take place within the flames. For the tise and .signification of candles in religious worship, see Lights, Use of, in Public WOB.^HII". CANDLE, Electbic. See Electric Lighting. CANDLEBEKRY, Baybebbv, Wax-Mtktle, or Tai.low-Tree ( Myrica cerifera ) . A small tree or shrub 4 to IS feet high, but generally a low-spreading shrub, a native of the eastern coast region of the United States, but most abundant and luxurious in the South. It be- longs to the order Myrieacea', distinguished by naked (lowers, a drupaceous fruit (stone-fruit) — the scales becoming fleshy — and a single seed. The eandleberry has evergreen, oblong, lanceo- late leaves, «ith two small serratures on each side at the point, sprinkled with resinous dots. The bark and leaves when bruised emit a de- lightful fragrance. The small, dry drupes or nuts when ripe are covered with a greenish- white wax, which is collected by boiling them and skimming it off, and is afterwards melted and refined. A bushel of berries will yield four or five poimds. It is used tliiefly for candles, which burn slowh', with little smoke, and emit an agreeable, balsamic odor, but do not give a strong light. An excellent scented soap is made from it. Myrica gale is the sweet gale of the moors and bogs of Scotland, well known for its delightful fragrance, a native of the northern parts of the world. Several spe- cies are found at the Cape of Good Hope, one of which, ilyrica cordifoUa, bears the name of- wax-shrub, and candles are made from its ber- ries, Myrica nagi, a Japanese species, is a tree from 40 to 50 feet high that will withstand some frost. It produces an edible fruit, and is cultivated to some extent in California, Myrica aspleuifolia, or Comptonia asplcnifolia, is com- mon in the United States, where it is known as sweet-fern. CANDLE-FISH, or EiLAcirox or Oolachan (1) A fish [Thaleichthys I'acificus} of the smelt family (Argentinida>), nearly allied to the cap- lin (q.v.), and found on the Pacific Coast of America from Oregon northward, (For illus- tration, see Whitefish, etc.) It is 12 to 15 inches in length, has a somewhat pointed and conical head, and a large mouth. The color is greenish-olive on the back, passing into silvery- white on the sides and belly, sparsely spotted with dirty yellow. The flesh is very oily, but the oil has a fine flavor. It is an excellent pan- fish, its flesh being far superior to that of the trout. Its oil is sometimes extracted and used as a substitute for cod-liver oil. The Alaskan Indians often use the dried fi.sh as a lamp, by merely drawing through it a piece of rush pith or a strip from the inner bark of the cj'press- tree as a wick. Immense shoals of candle-fish approach the shores and mouths of streams in spring and summer, when they are taken in large quantities by the Indians in canoes, by means of a flattened pole 8 to 12 feet long, having teeth originally of .sharpened bone, but now of iron, set thickly along the edge of its outer end. This is swept through the school of fish, pricking and catching many, which are then skillfully tossed into the boat. The Indians formerly made ex- tensive use of the oil rudely compressed from these fishes. Consult Swan, in Proceedings United States National Museum, Vol. III. (Washington, ISSl). (2) A local name in San Francisco for the Pacific coalfish {Anoploma fimbriata). CANDLEMAS (Engl, candle + masx). In its ecclesiastical meaning, the feast of the puri- fication of the Virgin Mary, observed on the second of February, This festival is very strict- ly kept by the Roman Catholic Church, there being a procession with many liglited candles, and those required for the service of the ensu- ing year being also on that occasion consecrat- ed ; hence the name Candlemas Day, In Scot- land this day is one of the four term days ap- pointed for periodical annual payments of money, interest, taxes, etc.. and of entry to premises, the three other term days there being Whitsimday, Lammas, and Martinmas. See Terii. An old document of the time of Henry VIIL, preserved in the archives of the Society of Anti- quaries, London, concerning the rites and cere- monies in the English Church, speaks thus of the custom of carrying candles: On Candlemas daye it shall be declared that the bearyinge of candles is done in the memorie of Christe, the spirituall lyghte whom Simeon dyd prophecye [■a light to lighten the Gentiles'], as it is redde in the churche that daye." But an older and heathen origin is ascribed to the practice. The Romans were in the habit of burning candles on this day to the goddess Febnia, the mother of Mars: and Pope Sergius, seeing it would be use- less to prohibit a practice of so long standing, turned it to Christian accovmt by enjoining a similar offering of candles to the Virgin. The candles were supposed to have the effect of frightening the devil and all evil spirits awaj'^ from the persons who carried them, or from the houses in which they were placed. An order of coimcil in 1584 prohibited the ceremony in England. There is a tradition in most parts of Europe to the effect that a fine Candlemas por- tends a .severe winter. In Scotland the prognos- tication is expressed in the following distich: "If Candlemas is fair and pl»?ar. There 'II be twa winters iu the year." Christ's Presentation, the Holiday o^ Saint Simeon, and, in the north of England, the Wives' Feast Day. were names given to Candle- mas Day. Consult Brand. Popular Antiquities, Bohn's edition (London, 1849). CANDLE-NUT ( Aleurites triloha). A tree of the order Euphorbiacefe, a native of the South Sea Islands, !^iadagascar, Jlolucca, Java, etc., which produces a nut with a very hard shell and a kernel good to eat when roasted, although in a raw state it possesses in a slight degree some of the active properties so common in the Euphorbiaceic, and is apt to cause purging. It is aljout as large as a walnut. An excel- lent fixed oil is procured from it, used both for food and as a lamp-oil. It is a drying oil, and has been used by artists. It is known as country walnut-oil and kekunc-oil. A valuable dye is obtained from the fruit. The inhabitants of the Society Islands, after slight- ly baking these nuts in an oen and removing the shell, string them on rushes to be used for