The extinguishers used in the early days of candles are known now as snuffer-extinguishers, to distinguish them from snuffers (the old name was _doubters_). In form they were not unlike scissors; the two circular metal plates of which they were formed closed in and compressed the wick, thereby extinguishing the light. The earlier snuffers had very large boxes, and some were remarkably handsome, an exceptionally fine example being shown in Fig. 17. They were discovered in an old house at Corton, in Dorset, in 1768, and were described by a writer towards the close of the eighteenth century thus: "They are of brass and weigh about 6 ounces. Their construction consists of two equilateral cavities, by the edges of which the snuff is cut off and received into the cavity from which it is not got out without much trouble." Snuffers of iron, and later of steel, are the commoner forms, but they are frequently of brass and of silver and Sheffield plate. [Illustration: FIG. 16.--TWO WALNUT WOOD FLOOR-CANDLESTICKS. (_In the collection of W. Egan & Sons, Ltd., of Cork._)] The need of some convenient tray or receptacle for the snuffers, not always over-clean when they had been used a few times, was met at first by what are known as snuffer stands made of wrought metal, and often very ornamental. Then came the oblong tray of convenient shape, following in its decoration and ornament prevailing styles in other domestic tin or metal work. In this connection it should be pointed out that there are many varieties of taper holders and stands used for the small wax tapers, then common on the writing table. Oil Lamps. Although oil had long been a recognized illuminant from which a good artificial light could be obtained, it was not until the eighteenth century that any marked attempt was made to substitute oil for candles in this country. For really beautiful lamps we have to go back to the bronze lamps of ancient Greece and Rome, and the terra-cotta lamps of the early Christians, many of which were exceedingly interesting. Householders in England, and in America, too, preferred the beautiful silver candlesticks and those charming and artistic scrolls which once decorated the walls of the houses of the well-to-do. There came a time, however, when oil lamps were reinstated, and although candles still held sway and were difficult to displace, inventors and makers of oil lamps began to compete for the lighting industry. The three old lamps now in the Cardiff Museum, shown in Fig. 15, must be classed among the commoner types of early lamps, once plentiful in farmhouses and cottages.