On the site where stood York House, Tudor Lodge, and Sherwood House, stands a great hive of industry known as Belmont Works or Price's Patent Candle Factory. Price's Patent Candle Company (as a private firm) was among the earliest to apply in commercial enterprise the discoveries of Chevreul, and has continued to hold the first place among candle manufacturers in Great Britain; and notwithstanding the manufacture of gas, the importation of American oils and the many competitors for supplying light-giving material this Company makes its way by dexterity between them. At the present time the store room of the Belmont Factory actually contains candles of about 240 different kinds. Until Chevreul had begun his scientific investigations in 1811, oils and fats had been regarded as simple organic substances. On the complete publication of his discoveries in 1823, the complex character of these bodies became extensively known. In 1829 the plan of separating cocoa-nut oil into its solid and liquid components by pressure, was in that year patented by Mr. James Soames of London; this patent was purchased by Mr. William Wilson and his partner, who, trading upon it under the title of E. Price & Co., perfected it as to manufacturing details. In 1831 the candle manufacture in England was set free from the excise supervision to which it had been previously subjected. From that date then its progress became possible. After a time, in order to carry out successfully certain enterprises which required more capital than the Company had at their command, Mr. Wilson's partner sold his share in the beginning of 1835 to three capitalists. With these gentlemen as sleeping partners and with the aid of two of his sons, Mr. Wilson continued under the name of Edward Price & Co. to carry on the concern until it passed in 1847 into the hands of Price's Patent Candle Company, with a capital of £500,000; of this Company Mr. Wm. Wilson became the first Chairman, and his sons, Mr. James P. Wilson and Mr. George F. Wilson, the two Manufacturing Directors. It is interesting to notice that in the year 1840, while Mr. J. P. Wilson was endeavouring to produce a cheap self-snuffing candle for the coming illumination in honour of the marriage of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, then about to take place, succeeded in making such candles of a mixture of equal parts of stearic acid and cocoa-nut stearine, they gave a brilliant light and required no snuffing. These candles came rapidly into notice, they were named "Composite" because of the mixture in them. Africa supplies the palm-oil which was hitherto used almost entirely for soap-making. The imports of palm-oil into England, which amounted to about 9,800 tons in 1840, have for many years past exceeded 40,000 tons annually, and averaged 50,000 tons in 1871, 1872, 1873 and 1874. This increase of importation is undoubtedly due in very great part to the use of oil in the manufacture of candles; and it is this trade which presents to the