144 VEGETABLE WAX. 



tween these two limits may be valued at from IT to 18" cent. : 

 51.8° to 64.4° Fahr. Towards the superior limit, the ceroxylon is 

 exposed to a cold durino^ the night, which approaches the freezing 

 point of water ; it is therefore frequently met with in company with 

 the great oak of x^merica, whose climate it stands very well. 



The Indians obtain the wax by scraping the bark of the palm : 

 the scrapings are then boiled in water ; the wax swims — without, 

 however, melting ; it is merely softened, and the impurities which it 

 contains are deposited. The matter thus purified is formed into 

 balls and set to dry in the sun. It is with this substance, to which, 

 however, a small quantity of fat is often added to render it less brit- 

 tle, that the loaves of wax and the candles of the country are form- 

 ed. After it has been melted, the cera de palma is of a deep yellow 

 color, slightly translucid, as brittle as resin, and presenting a waxy 

 fracture well characterized. Its melting point is a little above that 

 of boiling water. Boiling alcohol dissolves it readily ; in cooling, 

 the solution sets into a gelatinous mass. Ether dissolves it, as do 

 the alkalies also. 



The wax of the palm consists of two principles; one, fusible 

 above the temperature of the boiling point of water, has all the 

 physical properties of beeswax ; the other has the properties of 

 resin. The composition of these substances upon analysis appears 

 to be : 



Wax. Rftin. 



Carbon 81.6 83.7 



HydroRcn 13.3 11.5 



Oxygen 5.1 4.8 



100 100 



Wax of the Mi/rica cerifera. This wax is procured by boiling 

 the fruit of several species of myrica in water. The tree is ex- 

 tremely common in Louisiana and the temperate regions of the 

 Andes. The fruit yields as much as 25 per cent, of wax, and a 

 single shrub will yield from 24 to 30 lbs. of berries per animm. The 

 crude wax is green, brittle, and, to be made into candles, requires 

 the addition of a certain quantity of grease. According to M. Che- 

 vrenl the wax of the myrica is saponifiaMe. 



Wax of the suirar-cauc. The sugar-cane, particularly the violet 

 variety, is covered with a powder or bloom of a waxy nature, which 

 melts at the temperature of 82° cent. (180' Fahr.) This wax is so 

 hard that it can be pulverized ; it may be made into candles, which, 

 for the brilliancy of their light, are not inferior to those of sperma- 

 ceti. M. Avequin, who directed attention to this subject, found by 

 his experiments that a hectare (nearly 2} acres English) of the 

 violet cane would furnish nearly 200 lbs. of wax. This wax is 

 entirely soluble in boiling alcohol ; ether does not dissolve it in the 

 cold. It appears to constitute a perfectly defined inmiediate vege- 

 table principle, the composition of which, according to M. Dumas, 

 is the following : 



Ciirhon 81.4 



Hydroffon 14.1 



Oxygen 4.5 



100 



