428 COMPOUND PRODUCTS. CHAP. I. 



Properties. Wax, when pure/ is of a whitish colour, but with- 

 out taste and without smell. The smell of bees- 

 wax is indeed somewhat aromatic, and its colour 

 yellow. But this is evidently owing to some foreign 

 substance with which it is mixed, because it loses 

 its smell and colour by means of bleaching, and be- 

 comes perfectly white. This is done merely by 

 drawing it out into thin stripes, and exposing it for 

 some time to the atmosphere. Bleached wax is not 

 affected by the air. Its specific gravity is 0-9600.* 



It is insoluble in water, and in alcohol. It com- 

 bines with the fixed oils, and forms with them a 

 composition known by the name of Cerate. It 

 combines also with the fixed alkalies, and forms with 

 them a compound possessing the properties of com- 

 mon soap. The acids have but little action on it, 

 and for this reason it is useful as a lute to confine 

 them, or to prevent them from injuring cork. 



When heat is applied to wax it becomes soft, and 

 melts at the temperature of 142 if unbleached, 

 and of 155 if bleached, into a colourless and trans- 

 parent fluid, which, as the temperature diminishes, 

 concretes again and resumes its former appearance. 

 At a higher temperature it boils and evaporates, and 

 the vapour may be set on fire by the application of 

 a red heat. Hence its utility in making candles. 

 And hence an explication of the singular phenome- 

 non observable in the Dictamnus Fraxmella. This 

 plant is fragrant, and the odour which it diffuses 

 * Thomson's Chemistry, vol. iv. p. 299- 



