LEEDS CHEMISTS’ ASSOCIATION. 
263 
unacted upon. (Experiment.—10 per cent, was found to dissolve and separate on 
cooling.) 
Japan wax dissolves up entirely, and forms a gelatinous mass on cooling. (Experi¬ 
ment.—A mixture of the two showed the Japan wax readily, but as it dissolved an 
extra quantity of the bees’-wax, it is not good as a quantitative test.) 
5. Alkaline test for determining stearic acid in wax, by Overbeck.*—A solution of 
dried carbonate of soda (1 to 50) is the reagent. About 0 ounces of this are boiled 
with 15 grains of suspected wax for two minutes, and allowed to cool. Pure wax leaves 
a clear solution, but stearic acid froths, and gives a gelatinous soap. 
Expt.—15 grains Pure Wax.Clear liquid. 
Wax4-5 percent, stearic acid, Solid jelly. 
Wax-f-2 per cent.Gelatinous liquid. 
Cake Wax.Little milky. 
Thus far the test is excellent, aud detects 2 per cent, of stearic acid readily; but the 
author goes further, and claims for it a quantitative value. 
t He directs as follows:—Add alcohol, which throws down the wax in insoluble flakes, 
and leaves a jelly (stearate of soda soap), which dissolves afterwards in the alcohol, and 
forms a filtrate which passes through calico, upon which the residual wax is weighed. 
Experiments made with this modification of the test, caused the conclusion that it was 
totally impracticable. 
6. Lime-water as a test for Stearic Acid. f—M. Regnard proposes boiling suspected 
wax with lime-water, in a flask nearly closed from the air, and notes if an insoluble 
stearate of lime is formed. 
This test is open to many errors of experiment, from carbonate of lime being mis¬ 
taken for the stearate, and must be superseded by the excellent soda-test. 
The President expressed the pleasure with which he had listened to the Paper. The 
experiments detailed appeared to him to contain practical information of considerable 
value, and many of the facts which they recorded were as new to him as to any person 
in the room. 
Mr. Atkinson wished to know if Mr. Reynolds had tried any process in which chlo¬ 
roform was used as a solvent. This process has been described as follows, by its author, 
M. Vogel:—The wax is treated with 0 or 8 parts of chloroform; if genuine, it loses 
25 per cent., but if fatty matters, like stearin, be present, they will also dissolve, and 
the loss will be greater.!: 
Mr. Ward said that he believed the chief means of adulteration employed was Japan 
wax. That sophistication was a common practice must be self-evident when looking at 
the price at which wax was constantly offered, viz. from Is. Id. to Is. 4 d. per pound. 
He had recently seen some which a person had got up for sale, consisting entirely of 
Japan wax, coloured by gamboge. Carnauba wax w r as a very peculiar substance, and 
only one per cent, mixed with bees’-wax would destroy the grain ; consequently he did 
not think that it was used for this purpose. 
Mr. Brown was much impressed with the importance of studying the reactions of 
different samples of pure wax. This country was now supplied with wax from 
countries varying in every degree as to temperature and general climatic conditions, 
and it was impossible but that these influences should affect the ivax. Even in the 
same country, the nature of the season, whether wet or fine, appeared to him to 
produce differences in the physical characters of both honey and wax, which were of 
no trifling importance. He had observed that a wet and cold summer gave a more 
liquid honey and a harder wax than was obtained in a hot season. He thought we 
should investigate these differences more fully. 
At the conclusion of the ordinary business, an extraordinary meeting was held, ac¬ 
cording to notice, in order to alter Rule 4, by constituting the Honorary Librarian a 
member of Committee. This amendment was unanimously carried. 
* Pharrn. Journ. vol. ix. p. 128. 
•f Pharrn. Journ. vol. iv. p. 177. 
J Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim., vol. xvii. p. 374. 
