He will effect this best by dispensing with the
"bow," and by simply using a string or thong of a yard or four feet long.
He makes one or two turns with the string round the drill-stick, and then
holding one end of the string in either hand, he saws away with all his
force. I believe that a party of three men, furnished with dry wood of an
appropriate quality and plenty of string, would surely produce smoke on
the first few trials, but that they would fail in producing fire. If,
however, they had a couple of hours' leisure to master the knack of
working these sticks, I think they would succeed in producing fire before
the end of that time. The period of time necessary for a successful
operation is from one to three minutes. It is of little use fatiguing
yourself with sustaining the exertion for a longer period at a time,
unless the wood becomes continuously hotter. As soon as the temperature
remains uniform it shows that you have let the opportunity slip; it is
then the best economy of effort to desist at once, to rest, to take
breath, and recommence with fresh vigour.
[Sketch unlabelled].
Fire by Chemical Means.--It is not in the province of this book to
describe the various matches that take fire by dipping them into
compositions; and I have already spoken of lucifer-matches in the last
section. Only one source of fire remains to be noticed, it is--
Spontaneous Combustion.
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