CANDLE. Sale or auction by inch of candle, is when
a small piece of candle, being lighted, the bystanders are allowed to bid for the merchandise that is selling; but the moment the candle is out, the commodity is adjudged to the last bidder.
There is also an excommunication by inch of candle; when the sinner is allowed to come to repentance while a candle continues burning; but after it is consumed, he remains excommunicated to all intents and purposes.
Rush-Candles, used in different parts of England, are made of the pith of a sort of rushes, peeled or stripped of the skin, except on one side, and dipped in melted grease.
Candle-Wood, slips of pine about the thickness of a finger, used in New England and other colonies to burn instead of candles, giving a very good light. The French inhabitants of Tortuga use slips of yellow fan-tal-wood for the same purpose, and under the same denomination, which yields a clear flame though of a green colour.