264 Memoir on the Wax -Tree 



for the purpofe of purifying it, and is moulded into the form 

 of cakes. Four pounds of the feeds give about a pound of 

 wax. That which detaches itfelf fidt, is generally yellow, 

 but in the lall boilings it affumes a green colour, in confe- 

 quencc of the tint communicated to it by the pellicle with 

 which the nucleus of the feed is covered." 



Kalm, the traveller, fpeaking of the vegetable wax, fays 

 that in countries w^here the wax-tree grows, it is employed 

 for makhig excellent foap, with which linen can be perfectly 

 wafhed. 



Such was the knowledge naturalifls had of the myrica, or 

 at lead no other obfervations, as far as I know, had been 

 publifhed, rcfpefting it, when a natural i ft: gave me half a 

 kilogramme of the vegetable wax of Louifiana. I was defir- 

 ous to analyfe it, and compare it witli the wax made by our 

 bees, but before I undertook this labour, I wiflied to be ac- 

 quainted with the nature of the fln-ub, and of the feeds of the 

 myrica. I faw this valuable produftlon in the Jardin des 

 Plantes, and wrote to C. Defhayes, a zealous botanift, who 

 fuperintends at Rambouillet the cultivation of the Mjrica 

 fennfylvanica^ to beg he would give me a few details on that 

 fubjedl. He was fo kind as to return an anfwcr, accompa- 

 nied with fome of the feeds, which I took the earlicft op- 

 portunity of examining. 



This feed is a kind of berrv, of the fize of a pepper-corn ; 

 its furface, when it is ripe and frefli is wliite, iiiterfperfed 

 with hnall black afperities, which give it the appearance of 

 fliagrcen. When rubbed between the hands, it renders them 

 unttuous and greafy. 



If one of thefe fmal-1 berries be flrongly prefTed, it diverts 

 itfelf of a matter in appearance amvlaceous, mixed with fmal 

 round grains like gunpowder. The nucleus, which remainl 

 bare, has a very thick ligneous covering, and contains a dis 

 c )tyledon kernel. By rubbing a handful of the berries on a 

 hair fieve, I obtained a gray duft^, in which I could difHn- 

 guifli, by the help of a magnifying glafs, the fmall brown 

 grains already mentioned, in the middle of a white powder. 



I put this powder into alcohol, which by the help of a 

 gentle heat, dillblved all the white part, and left the black 

 powder, which I collected a-part. Water poured over this 

 alcoholic folution, difcngagcd a fubflance which floated on 

 the furf.ice of the licjuid. J melted this fubflance, and obtain- 

 ed a yellow wax, fimilar to that brouirhlme from Louifiana. 

 This experiment was fufficicnt to prove that the wax of the 

 myrica is the white rough matter which envelopes the feeds. 



The black powder which I feparated appeared to me to 



contain 



