March 1908. J 



205 



Oils and Fats; Dyes, 



OILS AND FATS. 



CARNAUBA WAX. 

 A note on this sub-stance appeared in 

 the Agricultural News (Vol. II, p. 307), 

 and it wan there stated that specimens 

 of the tree producing the wax are to be 

 found iu the Botanic Gardens at British 

 Guiana, and that seeds have been distri- 

 buted from them to the Botanic Stations 

 throughout the West Indies, In a later 

 issue of the Agricultural News (Vol. Ill, 

 p. 281) it is mentioned that enquiries had 

 beeu received in Demerara for this pro- 

 duct, aud, judging from the particulars 

 given below, which have been taken 

 from the latest British Consular Report 

 on the trade of the Brazilian State of 

 Bahia, carnauba wax may easily become 

 a valuable minor article of commerce. 

 The Consul writes : — 



The substance which figures amongst 

 exports from Bahia under the term 

 ' caruauba' is a species of vegetable wax, 

 which is obtained from a palm tree 

 (Coper nicia cerifera, Mart.) The palm in 

 question grows wild in abundance 

 throughout all parts of this State. 



Carnauba wax is an article of high 

 commercial value. It has been used 



during many years past for the manu- 

 facture of fine-quality candles, also 

 during later years as a basis for boot 

 polish. Quite recently, it appears, the 

 discovery has been made that carnauba 

 wax is the most suitable substance 

 for the manufacture of records for 

 phonographs and gramophones, and the 

 additional demand thus created has had 

 the effect of materially increasing the 

 value of the wax in question. At the 

 present time the market prices of car- 

 uauba wax range from £170 to £225 per 

 ton. 



The value of the wax is dependent 

 upon three factors— tint, texture, and 

 richness in oil, and for trade purposes 

 the wax is graded into three qualities. 

 The first quality is of uniform pale cream 

 tint, smooth and homogeneous iu texture, 

 and is rich in oil. The inferior qualities 

 are darker and less rich in oil. 



It is probable that it will be discovered, 

 as time goes on, that carnauba wax can 

 be made to serve many useful purposes 

 in addition to those which I have 

 specified. — Agriculturnl News, Vol. VI., 

 No. 146, November, 1907, p. 375. 



DYES. 



SYNTHETIC INDIGO. 



The cost of producing a maund(maund = 

 82^ lbs.) of Synthetic Indigo is believed 

 to be R-i. 90 00, but according to Capital, 

 Mr. E. C. Schrottky claims that natural 

 indigo can now be produced at Rs. 60 00 



per maund of 65 per cent, indigotine, in 

 which case it would appear that the pros- 

 pects of the natural product have con- 

 siderably brightened. — Indian Trade 

 Journal, Vol. VII, No. 87, Calcutta, 

 Thursday, 28th November, 1907. 



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