Abstract
A VERY curious phenomenon has just come under my notice, which is, I think, not unworthy of being put on record. I have been staying for ten days in London, and two long white paraffin candles have been standing on the drawing-room chimney-piece all the time. We have not been using the candles; but the wicks were ignited before we came to the rooms, as it is very common to do with new candles. I noticed two days ago that the wicks were all covered over with what I at first took to be some kind of mouldy growth, but what I now find is dust which has attached itself in fine hair-like tufts to the wicks of the candles, sticking out in all directions exactly like the tufts of iron filings on a powerful magnet.
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BOTTOMLEY, J. Curious Phenomenon. Nature 30, 634–635 (1884). https://doi.org/10.1038/030634e0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/030634e0
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