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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



fuses at 150*^ to 155° F., thou.i?]i it will remain 

 liquid at a somewliat loT\'cr temperature; by 

 great heat it is partially volatilized and partly 

 decomposed, the vapor burning with a clear 

 bright flame ; it is insoluble in water, but 

 slightly soluble in boiling alcohol and ether, 

 which deposite most of it on cooling ; easily so 

 in the essential and fixed oils; and can readily 

 be combined with rosin by fusion. It is very 

 frequently adulterated with spermaceti, Avhich 

 destroys its peculiar lustre and renders it softer 

 and more fusible; it is also adulterated with 

 stearine, which may be detected by the odor of 

 fat or tallow evolved when the wax is highly 

 heated, and by the crumbly texture which it 

 imparts. 



White w^ax is composed of two principal sub- 

 stances: myricine, which is grayish white with- 

 out crystalline texture, fusil)le at lo7^' F., and 

 almost insoluble in boiling alcohol ; and cerine 

 or cerotic acid, which crystalizes when pure, 

 in delicate needle-like crystals, fuses at 173"^ F., 

 is much more soluble, constitutes about twenty- 

 two per cent, of the entire weight of the w\ax, 

 and has for its formula C 54, H 54, 04. Wax 

 also contains four or five per cent, of a substance 

 called ceroleine, which is soft, very soluble in 

 cold alcohol and ether, and melts at 83° F. ; and 

 by dry distillation, and by the action of acids 

 and alkalies on cercne and myricine, a large 

 number of peculiar organic compounds may be 

 derived from it. A specimen of bees-wax from 

 Ceylon was found by Mr. Brodie to consist 

 almost exclusively of myricine. 



Bees-wax, though produced in almost every 

 country in the temperate and tropic zones, is 

 an article of foreign commerce in comparatively 

 few. The European supply is principallj' de- 

 rived from the Baltic, the Levant, Africa, India, 

 and the United States. The Portuguese prov- 

 ince of Angola, in Africa, annually sends to 

 Europe about 1,500,( CO arrobas or 47,772,000 lbs. 

 Japan also exports much. In the United 

 States it has long been an important article of 

 production and export. The census of 1840 

 gives the value of the product at $028,303, 

 which would be about 2,000,000 lbs.; that for 

 1850 states the value of wax and honey to have 

 been 14,853,790 lbs., Avorth $2,736,600; and that 

 for 1860 gives 1,357,864 lbs. of wax alone. The 

 exports in 1859-00 were 302,474 lbs., worth 

 $131,803. In 1801, 238,553 lbs. were exported 

 from New York. In 1800 more than five-sixths 

 of the exports Averc to France, England and 

 Brazil. 



Besides bees-wax, two kinds of wax of animal 

 origin enter into commerce. Tbe first, the 

 insect wax of China, is found coating the sur- 

 face of the Rli'iii^ .9uccedaneu.ni and some other 

 trees. It is the product of a very small white 

 hemipterous insect (Coccus Stneriifis,} which 

 about the beginning of June climbs up the 

 plant and feeds upon it, depositing tbe wax 

 upon the branches as a coating wbich resembles 

 hoar frost. This is scroped otf towards the cud 

 of August, melted in boiling water, and strained 

 through a cloth. It is white and crystalline, 

 resembling spermaceti, but harder, more brittle, 

 and more fibrous, fuses at 181° F., is but slightly 

 soluble in alcohol or ether, dissolves readtly in 



]iaptha, and has for its formula C 108, H 108, O 4. 

 It docs not contain cerotic acid ready formed, 

 but by fusion with potash is decomposed into a 

 mixture of it with a substance called cerotine 

 (C 54, H 56, 2. ) The Chinese call it l^e-la, and 

 employ it for making candles sometimes alone, 

 but more commonly mixed with softer fats 

 and as a coating for other more easily fusible 

 material, in order to prevent guttering. It is 

 often colored red with alkanet root, or green 

 with verdigris. It has been introduced into 

 England for the manufacture of composite can- 

 dles, and is found to answer the same purpose 

 of bees-wnx, of destroying the crystalline struct- 

 ure, or " breaking the grain" of stearic acid. 

 In China it is also employed fis a medicine. 

 The French have introduced the insect into 

 Algeria. The price of wax at Ningpo some 

 years ago was 22 to 25 cents per pound, and the 

 annual production was estimated at 400,000 lbs. 

 Another wax of animal origin is the Andaquiss 

 •wax of South America, which is produced by a 

 small insect called «?'-p.sY^. It melts at 171° F., 

 has a specific gravity of 0,917, and according to 

 M. Lewy contains fifty per cent, of ceroxyline 

 or palm wax, forty-five per cent, of ceroxine or 

 sugarcane wax, and five per cent, of an oily 

 substance. 



Of the vegetable waxes, the Japanese, the 

 palm Avax of New Granada, and the myrtle 

 wax of the United States are the principal "var- 

 ieties. The fiist is as white as bleached bees- 

 wax, more brittle, less ductile, and breaks with 

 a smoother and more conchoidal fracture ; its 

 specific gravity is rather less; and its melting 

 point is about 127° F. Its chemical composi- 

 tion is not definilely kuoyrn. The berries 

 yielding it grow in clusters like grapes on trees 

 i'rom filteen to twenty-five feet high, and when 

 gathered are roughly washed and bdiled in 

 water, when the wax rises to tlie surface, is 

 skimmed otT. and formed into cakes weighing 

 about tliirty jiounds. It is said to require pro- 

 tracted lileaciiing before it is fit for the market. 

 Small quantities have been sliipped to Europe 

 for manj" years past, but it is only within four 

 or five years that it has been extensively em- 

 ployed for candles, &c. Tlie amount exported 

 is large and continually increasing. In 1859 

 a single cargo of 1,170,000 lbs. arrived in 

 England. In 1860 the price at Nagasaki was 

 $11 to $12 per pecul, or 8^ to 9^^ cents per 

 pound. The palm wax of New Granada, (cer- 

 oxyline) is obtained from the Geroxylon aruli- 

 cola. The scrapings from the exterior of the 

 tree are boiled by the Indians, and the wax 

 rises to the surface. It is grayish white Avhen 

 crude, and after purification by digestion in 

 alcohol is j^ellowish white, almost insoluble in 

 alcohol, and fuses at 101i° F, The tree has 

 been introduced into Algeria. Caruauba wax 

 is derived from a palm growing in northern 

 Brazil. It is soluble in alcohol and ether, and 

 fuses at 182° F. The ocuba wax of Biazil is 

 derived from kernels of the fruit of several 

 species of myristica^ especially the M. ocuba. 

 It is yellowish white, soluble in boiling alcohol, 

 and melts at 98° F. The Bicuhiba wax, also 

 from Brazil, comes fi'om the M. Biculdba, is 

 yellowish white, soluble in boiling alcohol, ami 



