CHAPTEK XIV. 



BEES-WAX. 



BEES-WAX is a solid, compact, unctuous substance, 

 usually of a yellow color. 



" Bees-wax may be said to be a concrete animal 

 oil, holding the same relation to the fixed oils that 

 resin does to the essential oils. 



" Prime wax is of a bright yellow color, and an 

 agreeable odor," which is most perceptible on burn- 

 ing a portion of it. The best is procured from new 

 combs that have never been used for breeding pur- 

 poses. 



Another test by which to judge the quality of 

 wax " is to pass the thumb nail forcibly over its sur- 

 face ; if good, the nail will pass with a kind of jerk ; 

 but if no obstruction be felt, the wax may be looked 

 upon as adulterated with suet or some similar sub- 

 stance. 



" White wax is nothing more than the yellow wax 

 that has been exposed in thin flakes or shreds to the 

 action of the sun and air. There is an apparatus 



