_ Yes, mother; but I do not understand where the fire comes
from.
_Mother._ The fire comes from the heat, my dear. Now, you know that heat
is produced by rubbing two things together; and that some things, like
the spirits of turpentine, take fire very easily, or with very little
heat; and others, like the hard wood, require to be heated some
time,--or, in other words, require much heat,--to make them take fire,
or to burn. Some things require only as much heat to make them take fire
as can be obtained by rubbing them together very quickly, like the wood
which Robinson Crusoe's man Friday used.
_Daughter._ But, mother, the match is made of wood,--why does that take
fire so easily?
_Mother._ It is true, Caroline, that the match is made of wood; but it
has something at the end of it, which takes fire much more easily than
the spirits of turpentine. Indeed, so easily does it take fire, that it
requires only so much heat to set it on fire as can be obtained by
drawing the match once across the sand-paper.
_Daughter._ But, mother, matches do not always take fire.
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