Previous to the invention of the common lucifer match, the contrivances for procuring light, while frequently ingenious, were generally attended by some serious inconvenience. The plan adopted by savage nations is the laborious one of igniting by friction two pieces of dry wood. A readier method, but still a clumsy contrivance, was the flint and steel and tinder-box, in common use among ourselves till about thirty years ago. Attempts were made to supersede the tinder-box by such expensive and complicated contrivances as the pyrophorus, the pneumatic tinder-box or light syringe, the hydrogen-lamp of Dobereiner, &c.; yet the present simple and convenient lucifer is rather an improvement on the sulphur match than a modification of any of those more complex arrangements. One of the first forms of improved match was based on the fact that chlorate of potash, mixed with suitable ingredients, is decomposed by sulphuric acid, with the production of fire; the sulphur match was accordingly tipped with a paste composed of 30 parts chlorate of potash, 25 parts sulphur, 2 parts colophony, 13 vermilion, and 2 of gum in solution; and the match thus prepared was dipped into a bottle containing asbestos moistened with sulphuric acid, and rapidly withdrawn, when an explosive flame was generated which set fire to the wood. These matches, although inconvenient, soon became common, and were sold at 1s. per box under the name of Eupyrion.

The next form of the chemical match obtained the name of Prometheus. In this contrivance the paste consisted of equal parts chlorate of potash and sugar, mixed with a solution of gum. The sulphuric acid was ingeniously contained in a small glass bead, which, with a small quantity of the paste, was rolled up in gummed paper. On pinching the extremity of the roll with a pair of pliers, the bead was crushed, and the acid coming into contact with the chlorate, produced a burst of flame.

The next improvement was the friction-match, which appeared about the year 1832. In this contrivance the sulphur match was tipped with a composition consisting of 1 part chlorate of potash and 2 parts sulphuret of antimony, mixed with gum water. This match was ignited by drawing it briskly through the folds of a piece of sand-paper held between the finger and thumb.

The chief improvement in the match was the introduction of phosphorus into the composition of the paste, with which many ingredients were tried, such as magnesia, lime, sulphur, white-wax, cork-powder, &c., while chlorate of potash continued to be used; and as this material produced on ignition a noisy crackling sound, resembling Congreve rockets, the name of congreves was applied to the matches. When this explosive noise was got rid of, matches were called noiseless lucifers, and subsequently lucifers, a word which has found a permanent place in our language.

The manufacture of lucifer matches is at the present time of vast extent and importance; a single manufacturer exporting from London alone not less than 8000 cwt. of matches every year. The first operation at one of these factories is the sawing up of the timber into blocks, each 30 inches in length, 4½ inches in width, and 3 inches in thickness, by means of a circular saw, cutting across the fibres, so that each plank furnishes about 30 blocks. From these blocks splints for the matches are cut by means of a machine, patented by Reuben Partridge in 1842. Each block is placed endwise in a frame furnished with a crank bearing a horizontal arm, at the end of which is a block containing from thirty to forty lancet-points, separated by pieces of brass of the thickness of the intended match. The motion of the crank brings the lancet-points under the end of the block, and the points cut or score the wood to the required depth for forty splints. As the lancet-points are withdrawn by the revolution of the crank, a knife is made to swing round horizontally, and saw off a layer from the end of the block thus scored, containing forty splints each, two matches in length. The knife is then withdrawn, the lancet-points again advance, and the process is repeated as before. The splints fall into a room below, where they are made up into bundles of 1000 each, and afterwards dried in rooms heated to the temperature of 300°. When the bundles are taken out, both ends are dipped into melted sulphur, a kind of twist being given to each bundle to prevent the splints from being glued together by the sulphur. The bundles are now divided, each into two halves, by means of a circular saw, and are ready for tipping with the phosphorus paste, after which they are packed into boxes.

The composition of this paste varies with different manufacturers; but the principle of its action is the same in all common matches, viz., an emulsion of phosphorus is made with glue or gum, and this being applied to the end of the sulphured matches, they are exposed in a warm room until a sufficient quantity of the phosphorus has been driven off by slow combustion, so as to leave a sheet of glue or gum, which protects the remaining phosphorus from the oxidizing influence of the air. When the end of the match is drawn briskly across sand-paper, a portion of this gelatinous envelope is removed, while the heat occasioned by the friction ignites the phosphorus, and sets fire to the sulphur. The composition contains, among other ingredients, sand for promoting the friction, and colouring matter—such as red ochre, smalt, or artificial ultramarine. Matches of this kind ignite with great facility without any noise, and are therefore dangerous; while the large proportion of phosphorus which they contain renders them highly poisonous. Increased hardness, and consequently greater safety, is given by the use of chlorate of potash; but this makes a noisy match, and produces a white bursting flame. In some cases nitre is used instead of chlorate of potash, the oxygen of both the salts assisting the combustion of the phosphorus. Some of the matches made in Germany for use in climates less moist than that of England, are tipped with a composition of gum, nitrate of lead, or peroxide of lead and phosphorus. In well-compounded preparations the proportion of phosphorus may be very small, not more than from 5 to 10 per cent. Some use the following compound:—Phosphorus, 1 part; nitre, 10 parts; fine glue, 6 parts; smalt, 2 parts.

The great objection to all ordinary pastes is the use of common phosphorus, which fills the air of the factory with fumes of phosphoric acid, whereby the health of the work-people is greatly affected, and in many cases necrosis of the lower jaw produced. The only complete preventive consists in the employment of the red or amorphous phosphorus, discovered by Schröter a few years ago, and which is not volatile. It is said that Herr Lundström, of Jönköping has successfully employed the red phosphorus lately in the following manner.—The matches are tipped as usual with sulphur, stearine, spermaceti, or wax, and then with a composition consisting of 6 parts chlorate of potash, from 2 to 3 of sulphuret of antimony, and 1 part of glue; while, instead of the usual sand-paper on the match-box, the sides of the box are covered with a friction paste consisting of 10 parts of red phosphorus, 8 parts oxide of manganese or sulphuret of antimony, and from 3 to 6 parts of glue. This ingenious arrangement is said to be perfectly successful, and if so, it deserves the name of safety-match, which has been proposed for it, since this kind of match cannot take fire by accidental friction, while such matches are not poisonous, as is the case with common lucifers.

The resta, or taper-match, consists of a wick of untwisted cotton, covered with wax, and tipped with an inflammable paste containing a large proportion of chlorate of potash. In preparing these matches, from 100 to 200 lengths of wick, kept separate by means of combs, are made to pass through a bath of melted wax, and then through holes in a metal plate, which draws them to the proper size and shape. They are next cut into lengths for the vestas by a machine-moved knife, and being arranged on frames, are tipped with the composition. Fuses for lighting cigars are prepared from strips of cardboard, steeped in a solution of nitre, and cut nearly through into the required number of lights.

The manufacture of lucifers is spread over a considerable part of the world, and forms a vast and increasing trade. It is said that in this country at least 40,000,000 matches are made per diem, while large quantities are imported from Germany and other parts. In this country, where the extent of the manufacture is much less than in Germany, upwards of 8 tons of phosphorus, and 26 tons of chlorate of potash, are consumed every year for tipping matches. The cheap rate at which lucifer matches are manufactured is remarkable. It is said a German manufacturer will sell a case of 50 boxes, with 100 matches in each box, for 4d.