38 



threshed free of stems by means of bamboo flails. The process of pre- 

 parintjj the wax much resembles the local method of husking rice. A 

 wooden tilt hammer worked by hand falls into a wooden funnel-shaped 

 trough containing the berries. In time, the husk and pulp of the ber- 

 ries are reduced to powder, while the kernel remain?, and can be separ- 

 ated by a sieve. The mass is then dropped piecemeal from a height, a 

 current of air being blown across the path of descent to remove the 

 chaffy husk, which is afterwards collected and worked over again. In 

 Sikok, it is said that a small percentage of inferior wax is obtained by 

 grinding the kernels. The shitted and fanned powder containing the 

 wax is steamed in hempen sacks laid on bamboo wicker- vvo!*k, placed 

 over a caldron. The sacks and their contents are then subjected to con- 

 siderable force in wooden wedge-presses, and the wax that escapes is 

 mouldf^d for the market. Sometimes the flow of wax is hastened by the 

 application of a little ye no-abara, the oil of Perilia ocimoides. The 

 crude wax I'orms a coarse, greenish, tallow-like mass, amounting to 

 about 15 per cent. fSinon says 25) of the weight of the berries; it is thus 

 used for making ordinary candles. 



For special purposes, the wax is refined in the following manner. 

 It is first melted, pressed through strong cotton sacks, and dropped 

 into cold water, by which means it is produced in crumpled thin flakes, 

 ready for bleaching in the sun. With this latter object, it is laid in 

 shallow baskets 2^ ft. long and 1 ft. broad, placed in long rows num- 

 bering some thousands, in the open air. Here it is repeatedly turned, 

 according to the intensity of the sun's heat, sprinkled with water, and 

 melted again if necessary. It is then perfectly white. 



For export, it is now often cast into large cubes weighing one 

 picul (ISSg^lb.) instead of the conventional saucer-shaped cakes 4-4^ in. 

 diam. and 1 in. thick. The chief marts for the article are Nagasaki, 

 Hiogo, and Osaka, whence it is sent largely to China, and in smaller 

 quantity to Europe. The total exports were 1128 tons, £43,128., in 

 1874; the total value in 1875 was £37,249., and in 1877 about £47,250. 

 The London market value is about 57-80s. a cwt. for ordinary, and 55s- 

 67s. 6d. for inferior. It is often largely adulterated with water, which 

 it takes up when melted with it to the amount of 30 per cent, [t is 

 extensivel}^ employed for making candles and wax matches ; its melting 

 point is 42 ^ -55 ^ (107 ^ -131 ® F.) ; when old, it is soluble in boiling 

 alcohol and warm ether, but separates on cooling. The cultivation of 

 the shrub has been commenced in California. 



Japan Varnish. 



The natural varnish of Japan and China is derived from several 

 species of Rhus, chiefly R. veriiicifera whose fruits afford the Japan 

 wax of commerce. The stems of the trees are incised at the age of 4-5 

 years, and the productiveness only lasts for 3 years. The implement 

 used is a sort of double hook called kaki gama, with it a horizontal gash 

 is first made in the bark, then an incision in the centre of the gash. 

 The exudation is collected on an iron spatula, and poured into a vessel 

 suspended from the collector's waist. The incisions are continued 

 upwards till the whole tree has been wounded ; it is cut down, the 

 branches are lopped off, soaked in water for 10-20 days, and abundantly 



