A conventional grave candle or similar comprises a plastic shell, inside which is the combustible material of the candle, in the centre of which there is usually the wick. If desired, the candle can also be equipped with some kind of hat, which is intended to be both a decoration and to protect from the wind.

Publication WO 97/30138 discloses a candle, in which there is an arrangement, which causes the candle to extinguish itself, after a certain length of it has burned.

Extinguishing is ensured by making a mantle of biodegradable material around the wick in the lower part of the candle.

Publication WO 96/30414 discloses a biodegradable composition, which can be used in a candle holder. The composition is based on the reaction products of starch and bleach and may include numerous other substances too.

The state-of-the-art publications make some reference to the use of biodegradable materials in candles, but their purpose is clearly different to that intended in the present invention.

The present invention is intended to create a candle, particularly an outdoor candle, which can be burned, for example as a grave candle in graveyards, so that the remains of the candle are biodegradable materials. This avoids the need to collect the known plastic and other candle shells from the graveyard, thus also eliminating the costs of waste transportation and disposa, which may be considerable, even in the case of a single graveyard. According to the invention, labour costs will be reduced, and the graveyard or other environment will remain tidy.

These and other advantages and benefits of the invention are achieved as disclosed in the characterizing sections of the accompanying Claims.

In the following, the invention is described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which the invention is show in a simplified form.

Thus, the figure shows a candle 1, which is formed by a body 2 of stearine wax or other material conventionally used in candles, inside which is a conventional wick 3.

The basic idea of the invention is that the combustible body is surrounded by a shell 4 of biodegradable material.

When the candle is burned, the material 2 is used for combustion. Naturally, wick 3 also burns. Shell 4, however, remains, at least in part, but disintegrates relatively rapidly due to the effect of air, rain, the sun, and other factors that act outdoors, and vanishes from sight.

The biodegradable material according to the invention, from which shell 4 is manufactured, can be made, for example, as follows: About 1 decilitre of water is heated to boiling point in a suitable container, after which about 3 commercially available gelatine sheets are mixed into it. Boiling continues slowly for a few minutes, when about 2 teaspoonfuls of potato flour mixed in cold water is added, along with about 1/4 decilitre of jellying sugar, the mixture being stirred for a couple of minutes and a couple of teaspoonfuls of oil, such as olive oil are finally added. A rubber-like jelly forms, which is poured into a mold. The mold is cooled and the result is a finished, non-combustible, translucent shell.

It is obvious that the above recipe is only one of those possible, it being possible, however, to vary the ratios of the materials to a great degree. The following limits can be used as guidelines: 10-30 weight-% starch, such as potato flour; 10-60 weight- % gelatine; 10-50 weight-% sugar, especially jellying sugar; 0-20 weight-% water and 1-10 weight-% oil. if it is wished to reinforce the shell in some way, a material

containing natural fibres can be used, for example, hemp or linen fibres.

It is obvious that the invention can be adapted in many ways, while remaining within the scope of the inventive idea and the accompanying Claims.