212 
Mr, Hatchett’s analytical Experiments 
Properties of the Wax of Lac. 
If shell lac be long and repeatedly digested in boiling nitric 
acid, the whole is dissolved, excepting the wax, which floats on 
the surface of the liquor, like oil, and, when cold, may be col- 
lected; or it may be more easily obtained in a pure state, by 
digesting the residuum left by alcohol in boiling nitric acid. 
The wax thus obtained, when pure, is pale yellowish white, 
and (unlike bees wax) is devoid of tenacity, and is extremely 
brittle. 
It melts at a much lower temperature than that of boiling 
water, burns with a bright flame, and emits an odour somewhat 
resembling that of spermaceti. 
Water does not act upon it, neither does cold alcohol ; but 
this last, when boiled, partially dissolves it, and, upon cooling, 
deposits the greater part; a small portion, however, remains in 
solution, and may be precipitated by water. 
Sulphuric ether, when heated, also dissolves it; but, upon 
cooling, nearly the whole is deposited. 
Lixivium of potash, when boiled with the wax, forms a milky 
solution ; but the chief part of the wax floats on the surface, in 
the state of white flocculi, and appears to be converted into a 
soap of difficult solubility ; it is no longer inflammable, and, 
with water, forms a turbid solution, from which, as well as from 
the solution in potash, the wax may be precipitated by acids. 
Ammonia, when heated, also dissolves a small portion of the 
wax, and forms a solution very similar to the former. 
Nitric and muriatic acids do not seem to act upon the wax ; 
the effects of sulphuric acid have not been examined. 
