173 



We will digress a moment, to allude to Dr. Jackson's quotation 

 from Berzelius, which does not exactly represent ihe meaning 

 of the author, but conveys the impression that " oleine," as known 

 to chemists, exists in myrica wax. While Berzelius states, that 

 *' by cold alcohol we extract the oleine of the wax of the myri- 

 ca," meaning the particular kind of oleine, peculiar to that wax, 

 as one of a class he was describing at page 500, where he states 

 ** that it is probable, also, that the oleine which they contain is not 

 always the oleine of the oleate lipylique." 



We have entered at some length into the subject of myrica, 

 because the mucilage and albuminous matters are "indicated by 

 the presence " of this body. The only other evidence given of 

 their existence is, that " Dr. Hayes admits the presence of a neu- 

 tral body, which resembles mucilage from gum." We esteem 

 this good authority, and accept the statement as true, although 

 Dr. Jackson's analyses nowhere show the presence of such a 

 body. The "gelatinous mass" mentioned by Dr. Jackson, is 

 shown by the microscope to consist of the bodies of crustaceans. 



The wax-bearing berries of the Myrica cerifera are lighter 

 than water, and would float on its surface, as is shown by the 

 specimens now exhibited, which are seen floating on water in the 

 vessel before us. They consist of a considerable proportion of 

 woody matter compared with the amount of wax which coats 

 them, and where the wax occurs in the water, the woody matter 

 should be found also. The odor which the wax exhales, closely 

 resembles that of cloves, being very agreeable, and the wax of 

 the ripe berries is often perfectly white. If the wax referred to 

 as the source of the oil " having the properties of oil extracted 

 from Cochituate water," be the myrica wax as described by Ber- 

 zelius, we are met at the outset by the well-known fact that this 

 is a manufactured article ; and we know of no recorded instance 

 of the occurrence of myrica wax, or any body having similar 

 properties, in a natural water. Indeed, the more we examine 

 this view of the subject, the greater the difficulties appear, and 

 we are forced to the conclusion that the analyses and researches 

 do not prove the presence in the water, or the lake, of either the 

 plant, berries, or wax of the Myrica cerifera. Allowing that the 

 analyses in two instances show the presence in the dry matter of 



