322 ON VEGETABLE WAXES. 



has hitherto baffled all attempts at bleaching. The palm wlrich yields 

 this wax is found chiefly in the northern districts of Brazil, either 

 isolated or in immense numbers. 



Humboldt's Palm Wax (Iriartea Andicola, Spr. ; Cerozylon Andicola, 

 H. & B.) — This palm was found by Humboldt in the Cordillera at the 

 Pass of Quindin, between Ibague and Cartago, not lower than 7,930, and 

 not higher than 9,700 feet. The lofty, noble trunks are covered with a 

 coating of resin-like wax, — according to Vauquelin, one-third wax and 

 two-thirds resin. This coating gives them a white and marble-like 

 appearance, imparting a lively feature to the scenery. To obtain the 

 wax, the tree must be felled, each tree giving about 25 lb. A man will 

 cut down and scrape two trees a day. The wax is used, mixed with tallow, 

 for making candles ; it is said to burn too rapidly alone. After scraping, 

 it is merely melted and run into calabashes for the use of the villagers. 

 It is sold in the town of Ibague, at the foot of the Quindin, at 3d. 

 per lb., and is in considerable demand ; but it is abundant and easily 

 obtained. Hitherto it has not been met with in European commerce. 



Bahamas Candleberry Wax (Myrica cerifcra). — This is the 

 common candleberry myrtle of North America : it grows in the woods 

 all over the United States, and abounds in the Bahamas. At the Great 

 Exhibition, specimens both of the wax and candles made therefrom were 

 exhibited from New Brunswick. The method employed in America for 

 procuring this wax is by boiling the berries in a copper or brass vessel 

 for some time. Iron pots are found to darken and cloud the wax. The 

 vessel after a sufficient time is taken from the fire, and, when cool, the 

 hardened wax floating on the top of the water is skimmed off. Most of 

 the myrtle wax imported into London during the past few years has been 

 received from Nassau. 



Carolina Candleberry (Myrica Carolinensis). — This appears to be a 

 humbler but a more valuable plant than the candleberry of the Bahamas. 

 It flourishes in light sub-humid soils, and has even been found to thrive 

 upon the sands of Prussia, where it was cultivated successfully by M. 

 Sutzer at about half a league from Berlin. From the berries M. Sutzer 

 separated the wax, which retained its fragrance so powerfully after its 

 manufacture into candles, that a single candle, on being lighted, not only 

 diffused a delightful odour through the room while burning, but even for 

 a considerable period after its extinction. In America a fertile plant is said 

 to yield annually 7 lb. of berries, from every 4 lb. of which a pound of 

 wax may be obtained. This wax is of a greenish yellow colour, and 

 of a firmer consistence than beeswax. " The process by which the wax 

 is separated from the berries is one of extreme simplicity, and consists 

 in throwing them, when collected in sufficient cpiantity, into a kettle, 

 and water is poured in to the depth of six inches over them ; the 

 whole is then placed over the fire and boiled, stirring the berries during the 

 ebullition, to facilitate the separation of the wax, which forms a pellicle on 

 the surface, when it is skimmed off and strained through a coarse cloth to 



