BEESWAX 



surplus foundation, not more than three quarts 

 are used. If the wax is already of good 

 quality, so small an amount as two quarts of 

 acid will answer. On the average, therefore, 

 we use three quarts of acid to eighty gallons 

 of water for fifteen hundred pounds of wax. 

 Soon after this is poured in, the color of the 

 boiling wax will be seen to grow lighter, and, 

 after a minute or so, the boiling is stopped. 



The steam pipe is now drawn out, and the 

 tank covered with a cloth or carpet, and al- 

 lowed to stand as many hours as the wax will 

 remain liquid, or about twenty-four hours. 

 At the expiration of this time the water and 

 acid will have settled to the bottom by reason 

 of their greater specific gravity; and the acid, 

 in turn, having a greater specific gravity than 

 that of water, will settle to the bottom of the 

 water; and the consequence is, that the wax 

 itself, after being purified, is allowed to be- 

 come thoroughly cleansed of any residue of 

 acid, and the dirt accumulation will all have 

 settled to the bottom of the wax and into the 



227 



