272 ECONOMIC BOTANY 



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

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

 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 andicola, grows on the highest mountains of 

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

 fifteen to twenty feet long. The Falm 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 eerifera, 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 Myricacece), 

 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- 

 herry 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, perhaps, 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 Lauracece). It is a native of 



