694 WAX 



cult to powder, unless moistened with a few drops of recti- 

 fied spirit. It is insoluble in water, sparingly soluble in 

 cold alcohol, readily soluble in hot alcohol, chloroform, 

 and oils, and melts at 114 to 122 Fahr. With a 

 little sperm oil, it consists of cetyl palmitate, which, unlike 

 ordinary fats, is saponified with some difficulty, does not 

 yield glycerin, but forms, when heated with an alkali, 

 the crystalline cetyl alcohol (C 16 H 33 OH), and an alkaline 

 palmitate. 



ACTIONS AND USES. It is emollient and demulcent, 

 resembles wax, is rarely given internally, but is used for 

 imparting consistence to ointments and plasters. 



WAX 



CERA FLAVA. Yellow Beeswax. 

 CERA ALBA. White Beeswax. 



Prepared from the honeycomb of the hive bee, Apis 

 mellifica. Order. Hymenoptera. 



Beeswax is furnished from the glands on the ventral scales 

 of the bee. After removal of the honey, the comb, pressed, 

 fused in boiling water, strained, and poured into moulds, 

 constitutes yellow wax, which has a dull yellow colour, a 

 granular fracture, a slightly sweet and pleasant taste and 

 odour ; it should be free from greasiness ; it is insoluble 

 in alcohol, but entirely soluble in oil of turpentine. White 

 wax is made by melting yellow wax with steam, straining, 

 and decolorising it by exposure in thin ribbons to air and 

 sunshine, or by boiling with nitrate of soda and sulphuric 

 acid. 



Wax has the specific gravity '960 to *965, is tough and 

 solid, insoluble in water, soluble in fixed and volatile oils, 

 melts at about 145 Fahr., and readily unites with fat and 

 resins. It consists of nearly two-thirds of eerin, an im- 

 perfectly saponifiable waxy substance ; about one-third 

 of myriein or myricyl palmitate, a body analogous to 

 spermaceti, and about 5 per cent, of cerolein, a soft acid 

 fat. Chinese wax is the product of an insect of the cochineal 

 tribe. Wax is also produced by several plants. 



