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Lamp, Camphene

Lamp, Camphene


Title	Lamp, Camphene
Coverage / Year	1840 to 1865
Description	A cylindrical glass jar with a lid which transforms it into a lamp. The lid has two broad wick holders protruding from one side. A heavy C shaped cover with chain for the wick holders is attached and indicates that this is probably a camphene lamp.
Interpretation	Camphene, a combination mineral spirits and alcohol was used as a lamp fuel for a short time in the middle of the 19th century. Because whale oil was so expensive camphene was used as a replacement. Camphene was extremely volatile. If the flame from one wick heated the other wick the heat could travel back into the reservoir and explode. Thus, camphene lamps have either single wicks, or double wicks pointed away from one another. This lamp shows how a lid could be fitted onto any simple jar.
Lesson Plans / Themes	American Communities in History; Communities and Geography; How we learn about communities; Whaling Slide Show; Inventions Multimedia Time Line; School Museum; Introduction of artifacts as a primary source; What's That Relic?; Settling in the Midwest;
Learning Standards	16 History; 18 Social Systems; 13 Science, Technology and Society;
Author or Creator	Unknown
Subject / Keywords	Oil lamp; Light; Lighting device; Whaling; Whale; Whales; Whale oil; Camphene
Collection Publisher	Early American Museum
Further Information	For any further information related to this record, please contact the Collection Publisher. See http://images.library.uiuc.edu/projects/tdc for more information about this project.
Rights Management Statement	http://images.library.uiuc.edu/projects/tdc/conditions.htm
Resource Identifier	1968.001.0971
CONTENTdm file name	34350172422004_68.1.0971.jpg

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