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CARNAUBA WAX 
Carnauba wax is exuded by the leaves of the carnauba palm 
(Copernicia cerifera), which grows in the hot dry sections of north- 
eastern Brazil. Brazil produces about 5,000 tons of the wax a year. 
The leaves are dried by exposure to the sun for several days. Then 
the wax is brushed and scraped from them. About TO leaves yield a 
pound of wax. The separated wax is placed in boiling water, and in 
a short time it collects at the surface in the form of a doughlike mass, 
which, after cooling, is removed. The crude wax is refined by 
remelting in water. Some of it is bleached by treatment with fuller's 
earth or other bleaching agent. To facilitate bleaching, it is cus- 
tomary to mix the wax with 2 to 5 per cent of paraffin wax. Con- 
sequently the finished product melts at a somewhat lower temperature 
than the unbleached wax. 
Carnauba wax is graded according to its quality and color, the 
chalky wax being the lowest and cheapest grade. It is used in mak- 
ing candles, polishes, and phonograph records, and for waterproofing. 
CANDELILLA WAX 
Candelilla wax is obtained from a plant belonging to the Euphor- 
biacese family and growing in the semiarid regions of northern 
Mexico and southern Texas. The plant consists of a bundle of 
slender, leafless stalks, 2 to 4 feet high, which are coated with a 
grayish-green wax. It contains from 2 to 5 per cent of wax. 
Several boiling or steaming methods and one based on the extrac- 
tion of this wax with volatile solvents have been patented. The 
customary procedure for obtaining the wax is to boil the dried plants, 
one or two weeks after they have been gathered, for 5 or 10 minutes 
with water acidified with sulphuric acid, which facilitates the separa- 
tion of the wax from the stalks. The wax, which rises to the sur- 
face, is removed by skimming. Sometimes the skimmed wax is 
placed in steam-heated vats until most of the water is removed. The 
wax is then drawn into large pans and allowed to harden. The dirt 
and plant debris, which settle to the bottom of the cakes of wax, are 
cut off and returned to a small refining vat for the recovery of more 
wax. The yield of wax by this method ranges from 1.5 to 2.5 per 
cent. 
Candelilla wax, which is hard and light brown in color, is used in 
making polishes, leather dressings, and candles and as an insulating 
material. 
MONTAN WAX 
Montan wax, produced chiefly in Saxony and Bohemia, is obtained 
by extracting dried lignite by volatile solvents under pressure. The 
crude wax varies in color, but the refined wax is pale yellow. The 
wax is hard and brittle and breaks with a conchoidal fracture. Its 
melting point varies from 168.8° F. to about 194° F. The wax is 
used in manufacturing shoe and other polishes, cable insulations, 
and phonograph records, and for treating leather. 
Chlorinated montan wax made by a patented process is employed 
for insulation purposes and as a substitute for beeswax in Great 
Britain. 
