Wax of the Chamarops. 351 



I have cultivated the plant from Cuba for five or six years, 

 and was unable to discover any difference in foliage ; but I 

 have never seen the fruit of either. The leaf of the Chamaerops 

 spreads out nearly horizontal with folds, precisely like those of 

 a lady's fan. On opening these folds, when they arrive in the 

 United States in their dried state, there is a quantity of white 

 flaky powder, under this is the bright varnish which covers 

 the whole surface of the leaf; both these are true vegetable 

 wax. From one of these palm leaves I obtained, by passing 

 the thumb down the folds, 90 grains of the white wax in pow- 

 dery flakes, and by boiling the leaf, after cutting in pieces, in 

 alcohol, 300 grains more of a grayer coloured wax. 



At the manufactory the leaves are often bleached by the 

 fumes of sulphurous acid gas, and then split by machinery into 

 very thin strips ; this division cracks off of course a large por- 

 tion of the brittle varnish, which, together with the white pow- 

 der, falls to the ground, is swept together and burnt or thrown 

 away. The weight of this substance destroyed annually pro- 

 bably exceeds one hundred thousand pounds. 



On treating this substance with a small quantity of boiling 

 alcohol, it may, like other wax, be separated into cerine and 

 myricine. 



The powdery flakes first obtained contain about 80 per 

 cent, myricine and 20 per cent, cerine, but the wax obtained 

 from boiling the leaf in alcohol contains scarcely any myricine. 

 This is easily accounted for ; the flakes, being the brittle and 

 more resinous part, break off readily • while the alcohol, which 

 acts on the leaves, dissolves only the cerine, leaving the myri- 

 cine undissolved ; this might no doubt be obtained by increa- 

 sing the quantity of alcohol and continuing the process, if it 

 were desirable. In bees' wax the proportions of these two 

 substances vary also, the cerine from 70 to 90 per cent., 

 myricine from 10 to 30 per cent. ; and it is probable that the 

 more or less brittle quality of all wax depends on the relative 

 quantity of these two ingredients. 



The wax of Ceroxylon andicola, a very lofty palm, found 

 by Humboldt at Quindin on the Andes, has been analysed, 

 and found very nearly to resemble bees' wax in its ultimate 

 principles. 



Bees' wax. Palm wax. 



Carbon 80-14. 80*28 



Hydrogen .... l4-'08 1320 



Oxygen 5*78 6*52 



To obtain this wax, the outer portion of the trunk is rasped 

 or scraped, the raspings are heated in water, the wax swims 

 at the top, the other parts fall to the bottom, the wax is col- 

 lected, made into small balls, and dried in the sun ; it has a 



