Man must have been familiar with fire from the beginning of his existence, for spontaneous combustion, lightning, or volcanic eruptions would introduce flames from time to time, but he had no control over them.

No one knows how the making of fire was first discovered.  Perhaps in play, two men may have drawn a vine or strip of rattan back and forth across a rotten tree.  If this were repeated rapidly at one spot the friction would probably set the wood of fire.  This method was formerly practiced in Scandinavia and is still in use among the pygmies of Palawan, north of Borneo, and in the interior of New Guinea.  There each man wears a rattan armlet which serves as an ornament, but when he needs a fire he unrolls enough to make a loop.  Next he cuts a piece of cloth from his clout and lays it on the ground.   On this is placed a split stick of soft dry wood.  He passes the loop between the cloth and stick, places his foot upon the latter and draws the rattan rapidly up and down, until friction produces enough heat to ignite the cloth.

More wide spread is the bamboo saw used throughout Malaysia.  A section of bamboo is split lengthwise, and across the back of one piece a groove is cut through.  Bark, cloth, or other tinder is placed below this opening and then the thin edge of the other section is rubbed rapidly in the groove.  Soon enough heat is generated to set the tinder afire.  An individual using this method can create a fire in less than a minute.

The Native American had learned that he could produce fire by twirling a hardwood stick rapidly between his palms.  The lower end of the shaft was allowed to turn in a groove cut in a soft plank, until the saw-dust it produced was on fire.

A modification of this is the bow drill used in the house of the Eskimo.  Here a loop of bow string passes around a hardwood shaft, causing it to spin when the bow is sawed back and forth.

Of the same general nature is the fire plow of New Guinea.  A long piece of softwood rests on the ground and against the body of the operator.  A lengthwise groove has been cut and in this a hardwood shaft is plowed up and down.  The friction produces a powder and heat to ignite it.

It is possible that when fashioning flint tools the maker observed that sparks were often produce.  He may have noticed that, if he were using iron pyrites or similar stone as a shaping instrument, the sparks were brighter and more frequent.  Quite possibly some of these sparks may have set fire to dry grass or other inflammable material and thus may have given the idea of a fire making device which ultimately developed into the flint and steel.

Most discoveries are the result of accidents, and it is man’s ability to capitalize on these which has led to his present civilization.  However, one method of fire-making, utilized by certain peoples in the Philippines and other portions of  Southeastern Asia, must have been a real invention.  The so-called “fire syringe” is far too complicated to have been due to chance.

This device consists of a small churn-shaped piece of wood or horn into which a cylinder hole has been bored.  A carefully made plunger fits snugly into this.  At the bottom of this piston is a small hole into which tree cotton can be crammed, while grooves cut near the end allow a few threads to be wound in.  This tinder of cotton and thread is rubbed with grease, then the plunger is placed at the top of the opening and is driven in with a sharp blow of the hand.  If it is immediately withdrawn, the tinder will be in flames.  The compression of the air has caused it to be set on fire.

Primitive methods of fire making fire survived until a little more than a one hundred fifty years ago when out match was invented.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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