E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Lucifers (1833).
An improvement on the Congreves and Prometheans. Phosphorus was introduced into the paste; but phosphorus made the matches so sensitive that the whole box often ignited, children were killed by sucking the matches, and at Boulogne two soldiers and a woman were poisoned by drinking coffee in which a child had put a “lucifer.” The manufacture of these matches was also very deleterious, producing “jaw disease.” (See PROMETHEANS, SAFETY MACTHES.)
