Vol. XXII. No. 6.] 



POPULAR sntET^OE NEWS. 



87 



l^ome, iFarm, anD tfsarten. 



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THE JAPANESE WAX-TREE. 



This curious tree is found in Japan, China, 

 and throughout the East Indies generally. It 

 belongs to the Rhus or sumach famil}-, and has 

 the specific name succednnea. In the Japan- 

 ese language it is called haje or haze. 



The tree commences to bear fruit when five 

 or six j-ears old, and increases its product 

 ever}' .year, till at fifty years a single tree will 

 produce three hundred and fifty 

 pounds of berries, from which sev- 

 enty pounds of wax can be obtained. 

 The wax is formed in the middle of 

 the berry, between the seed and the 

 skin, like the pulp of a grape. It is 

 extracted by boiling the berries in 

 water, and allowing it to cool, when 

 the wax separates out in a solid 

 cake. 



This vegetable wax closely re- 

 sembles the product of the honey- 

 bee. It is readily bleached, is not 

 greasj- to the touch, has the high 

 specific gravity of 0.97, and melts 

 at 131° F., — a little lower than 

 beeswax, which melts at 149°. It is 

 largely used by the Chinese in the 

 manufacture of candles, which are 

 composed either entirely of the wax, 

 or mixed with tallow or other fats. 

 The principal port of export is the 

 citj' of Osaka, from whence, in 1876, 

 nearly two million pounds of the 

 wax, worth about fifteen cents a 

 pound, were shipped to London. 



A tree of this same family, the 

 Rhus veiiicifcra (Japanese ourou- 

 chi), also grows in Japan, and pro- 

 duces the resin or gum used in the 

 manufacture of the famous lacquer 

 ware. In this country the use of 

 sumach in tanning is well known ; 

 and notwithstanding those " black 

 slieep," the poison ivy and dogwood, 

 the i?/t MS family must be considered 

 as very useful and valuable members 

 of the vegetable kingdom. 



The fine engraving illustrating the 

 flower, leaf, and fruit of the Rhus succedavea 

 is reproduced from La Nature. 



and are nearly identical in other respects ; the 

 principal difference being in their action on a 

 ra}' of polarized light. One of the sugars, 

 known as de.vtrose or glucose, twists such a ray 

 to the right ; the other, levulose, twists it to 

 the left : and honey is composed of a varying 

 mixture of saccharose (cane sugar) , and dex- 

 trose and levulose (inverted sugar) , the pro- 

 portion depending upon the food of the bees. 

 The close resemblance between dextrose and 

 levulose is repeated in the substance known as 



THE CHEMISTRY OF THE BEEHIVE. 



The delicious nectar gathered by the busy 

 bees from the flowers is, chemically, not ver}' 

 difllerent from tliat produced by the sugar-cane 

 or beet-root. The agreeable flavor is, of course, 

 absorbed from the fragrance of the flowers ; 

 but the principal chemical difference between 

 honey and cane-sugar sirup is in the greater 

 proportion of what is known as inverted sugar. 

 Cane sugar is known to chemists as saccha- 

 rose, and has the symbol CijHaoOn. Under 

 certain conditions this sugar will take up a 

 molecule of water (H/)) , and split up into two 

 molecules, with tlie symbols CgHivOe. These 

 sugars have the same chemical composition. 



tartaric acid. Two varieties are known which 

 are chemically identical, except that a solution 

 of one turns the plane of polarization in a ray 

 of light to the right, and the other to the left. 

 When these two varieties are crystallized, the 

 crystals have nearly the same form, except 

 that in one, certain modifications appear on 

 the right-hand side of the crystal, and in the 

 otlier on the left. No satisfactory explanation 

 of these remarkable phenomena has yet been 

 given. 



It is estimated, that, to collect one pound of 

 honey, 02,000 heads of clover must be deprived 

 of their nectar, necessitating 3,750,000 visits 

 from bees. It would seem from this that the 

 reputation of tlie wonderful little insect for 

 industry has not been over-rated. 



Wax is a substance secreted by the bees, 

 and is analogous to the fat of higher animals. 



To produce a single pound of wax, the bees must 

 consume from fifteen to twenty pounds of 

 honey. This expensive substance is used by 

 the thrifty little insects with the greatest econ- 

 omy. The thickness of the cell walls in a new 

 comb is said to be only a hundred and eigh- 

 tieth of an inch. 



Wax is principally composed of two sub- 

 stances. One, an organic acid known as ce- 

 rotic acid (02,115^02) , is soluble in alcohol ; 

 the other is only sparingly soluble in alcohol, 

 is known as myricin, and is, chemi- 

 cally considered, a fatty ether, or 

 palmitate of myricile (CuH.^iOa, 

 C30H5,). In addition, wax contains 

 about five per cent of a greasy sub- 

 stance known as cerolein, to which 

 its color, tenacity, and odor appear 

 to be due. The proportions of these 

 different substances varj- more or less 

 in diflferent samples of wax. 



Wax is bleached by rolling it into 

 thin ribbons, and exposing it to the 

 sun and air. The bleaching is prob- 

 ably due, in part at least, to the 

 ozone of the atmosphere. It can 

 also be bleached by chlorine ; but 

 unfortunately the chlorine combines 

 directly with the wax, and is given 

 off when candles made from it are 

 burned. This propertj' of chlorine 

 was first discovered in the last cen- 

 tury, by a French chemist who was 

 summoned to investigate the cause 

 of the suffocating odor given off by 

 the candles used for ligliting the pal- 

 ace of the Tuilleries. The fact that 

 another element could be added to 

 wax without changing its appearance 

 or general properties in any way, 

 was a revelation to the chemists of 

 those days, and marked an epoch in 

 the progress of organic chemistr}-. 



Propolis is a gummy, viscous sub- 

 stance obtained by the bees from the 

 resinous buds and limbs of trees. 

 It is used as a sort of " builder's 

 cement," to fill up cracks in their 

 dweUing, and to mix with the wax 

 to strengthen the attachments of the 

 comb to the sides of the hive. They have 

 been known to entirely cover an intruding 

 snail with a coat of this substance ; thus dis- 

 posing of the animal, and preventing any 

 nuisance arising from its decomposition. 

 Bees have been observed to collect fresh var- 

 nish instead of propolis, when it could be ob- 

 tained ; and instances where they have been ■ 

 known to alight on a coffin were probablj' due 

 rather to the smell of the varnish, than to any 

 regard for the dead. The superstitions regard- 

 ing bees and funerals may have arisen from 

 some such cause. 



Pollen is gathered by the bees^in large 

 quantities, and, in connection with honej', is 

 consumed by them as food. As it contains more 

 or less nitrogen, it is admirably adapted to 

 supplement the hydrocarbons of the honey. 

 It is especially indispensable in feeding the 



