generally to rely upon the objects which were in common use and made in larger quantities. Of these commonly used appliances, however, there are many varieties, and of the more perfected forms of lighting requisites there is an abundant choice. [Illustration: FIG. 46.--A TWO-TUBE CANDLE MOULD.] [Illustration: FIG. 47.--TWO TYPES OF EARLY PRICKET CANDLESTICKS.] Candles and Candlesticks. Many are the legends and stories of the days when the flickering light of a candle threw shadows across the ceiling and partly lighted and partly obscured the table and floor. Ghostly, too, they seemed as the embers of the fire died on the hearth. The provision of artificial light for use during the long winter evenings has always been one of the domestic cares, and the women of the household were in early days mindful of the coming winter during the summer and autumn months. Among their domestic duties was that of gathering and drying rushes and dipping them in fat. The primitive rushlights gave an uncertain glimmer, and the moulding of candles with cotton wicks would be welcomed as an advance. Candles were home-made until comparatively modern times, and the candle mould was an essential in every household. It was frequently of brass, and varied in size and in the number of moulds, the one shown in Fig. 46 having only two tubes. While the custom of making candles at home continued long in country districts, in towns candle-making became a trade, and, as was the custom in those days, the moulders of candles assembled together in certain well-known thoroughfares. In London, Candlewick Street, the name of which has since been corrupted into Cannon Street, was their rendezvous. The store of candles for immediate use was kept close at hand in the candle box, placed against the wall in some convenient position. The boxes were of wood and japanned tin; others were of brass, some being very ornamental and covered over with engravings. Such candle boxes are to be found in the curio shops; several fine examples may frequently be seen near St. James's Park Station in London, where there are several curio dealers who specialize on old copper and brass, the neighbourhood being quite a happy hunting ground for the collector of metal. [Illustration: FIG. 48.--CANDELABRUM OF EARLY TYPE (CENTRAL FIGURE), AND TWO OIL LAMPS. (_In Washington Museum._)]