398 Dr. Pearson's Observations and Experiments 
belong to the genus of fat , or fixed oils : — but it differs from 
them, and resembles the volatile oils and resins, in being 
brittle and semi-transparent; in being soluble in alcohol; in 
composing an imperfect soap with fixed alkalies ; in dissolv- 
ing readily in sulphuric aether. 
2. As bees wax and white lac seemed to be alike in many 
properties, I extended the comparison by some experiments 
on bees wax. 
Bees wax when first secreted is, I believe, always white, 
and it is often white when made into the comb. It remains 
white after being melted. 
White lac becomes yellow, on purification by melting and 
straining. 
Bees wax has a peculiar smell when cold. White lac has a 
smell only when made hot, and it is a different one from that 
of bees wax. 
Bees wax is less brittle and hard than white lac. The 
former is, generally, specifically lighter than the latter ; for 
bees wax often floated upon cold water, but purified lac fell 
to the bottom. 
Bees wax melts at about 142 0 , and therefore in a few de- 
grees less caloric than white lac. 
Bees wax does not adhere so firmly to different bodies as 
white lac. 
Yellow bees wax can be rendered white by exposure to 
the solar light, or by oxygenated muriatic acid, but this lac 
could not be bleached. 
Bees wax formed a soap-like mass by union with pot-ash, 
which was soluble like common soap in water, but this lac af- 
forded an imperfect soap. 
