VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 239 



the most part in the western provinces, and the latter in the 

 eastern. Ligustruvi ibota makes a good third in the list of 

 wax trees. The Kuang -dm n-fang-pu gives ^ ^ (La-shu), 

 "wax tree," as the alternative name for the A'u-cheii^ and 

 while it also gives Tu)ig-ch''ing as a name, it seems to use this 

 more in the sense of "evergreen." The trees are usually- 

 planted upon d5'kes between fields, and more rarely in clumps 

 or orchards. Few engage exclusively in this business of 

 producing the wax. It is usually one of the many activities of 

 the Chinese fanner. 



In commerce the wax appears in cakes of varying sizes ; 

 the usual one being of a diameter of about thirteen inches and 

 about three and a half inches thick, with an oblong hole in the 

 center for ease of handling. It texture it is highly cr\staline 

 on its broken surface, much resembling spermaceti, but con- 

 siderably harder. When pure it is almost colorless, inodorous, 

 and tasteless. It melts at a temperature of about 180° F. , and 

 chemically seems to be a ceryl cerotate, its formula being 

 C27 Hjj, C27 H53 Go. It is very sightly soluble in alcohol or 

 ether, but very soluble in naphtha. It is used in China to 

 some extent for making candles, being rarely used pure for 

 this purpose, but sometimes combined with softer fats. It is 

 more particularly used for giving to the ordinary tallow candle 

 a hard coating to prevent its guttering and wasting. For 

 this purpose it is usually colored red with alkanet root, or 

 green with verdigris. Latterly the analine dyes are being used 

 to produce other colors. It is used in the trades for polishing 

 the edges of books, the edges of the soles of shoes, polishing 

 eartlienvvare, and the like. Medicinally, the Pentsao says that 

 it makes flesh grow, stops bleeding, eases pain, restores strength, 

 braces the nerves, and joins broken bones together. IL is 

 regarded as a valuable remedy for wounds and all sorts of 

 external difficulties, being used together with the bark of Al- 

 bizsia julib7'issin for this purpose. It is also considered to have 

 anthelmintic properties when taken internally, and is rubbed 

 into the scalp in cases of favus and alopecia. Pills are some- 

 times coated with this wax, and it is used for rubbing up 

 with india ink in printing Chinese visiting cards of the better 

 quality. Grosier says that public speakers sometimes swallow 



