272 ECONOMIC BOTANY 



less. The pure wax has a pale greenish color, and is hard 

 and brittle ; when melted, it is clear and slightly aronjatic. 

 It has a specific gravity of .999, and melts at 174°-206J° 

 F. It is soluble in boiling alcohol and ether. It is used 

 in the manufacture of candles and wax-varnishes, and is 

 often substituted for beeswax. Another Wax Palm, 

 Ceroxylon andioola, grows on the highest mountains of 

 New Grenada. It is a tall tree, with pinnate leaves, 

 fifteen to twenty feet long. The Palm Wax forms a crust 

 on the stems, from which it is scraped after the trees are 

 felled. Each tree yields about twenty-five pounds. Some- 

 times the bark is boiled to obtain the wax ; it is yellowish- 

 white, of complex composition, and melts at 161° F. It is 

 mixed with tallow, and then used to make candles. 



244. The Bayberry, Myrica cerifera, a shrubby plant of 

 North America, with a grayish bark, many branches with 

 numerous entire petiolate leaves, and flowers in aments ; 

 and other species of the same genus (family MyricaceoB), 

 growing in South America and Africa, have a coating of 

 wax, in the form of a crust or powder, on the spherical 

 berries. This, called Myrica, or Myrtle Wax, or Bay- 

 berry Tallow, is obtained by boiling the fruits in water ; the 

 fruits sink, and the wax floats on the top. The wax is 

 greenish in color — due, perha,ps, to chlorophyll contained 

 ■in it. It is as tenacious as, and harder than, beeswax, 

 and can be saponified. It has the same uses as beeswax, 

 for which it is sometimes substituted. 



CAMPHOR. 



245. The Camphor-tree, Laurus camphora, is an ever- 

 green, much resembling the Linden-tree, and belonging to 

 the Laurel family (family LauracecB), It is a native of 



