BLEACHING  OF  WAX,  ETC. 
523 
METHOD  OF  RAPIDLY  BLEACHING  WAX,  AND  PURIFYING 
TALLOW,  OILS,  &c. 
Wax,  properly  speaking,  consists  of  pure  wax  and  a  coloring 
matter;  there  are  several  kinds  of  wax,  distinguished  commercially 
by  the  relative  amount  of  coloring  matter  which  they  contain. 
Formerly  it  was  supposed  that  wax  could  only  be  bleached  by 
the  action  of  sunlight ;  to  effect  this  object,  the  operations  could 
only  be  commenced  in  the  month'  of  May,  when  the  fine  season 
has  set  in,  and  the  sun  attained  sufficient  altitude  to  send  its  rays 
more  directly,  for  a  longer  period  and  with  more  force ;  and  these 
conditions  continue  only  at  most  for  three  or  four  months.  To 
bleach  wax  by  this  process,  it  must  be  made  into  ribbons  of  great 
tenuity,  or  feathered  as  zinc  is  by  being  poured  into  water ;  an 
operation  which  must  be  repeated  at  least  three  times,  whilst  the 
duration  of  the  exposure  to  the  sunlight  must  occupy  from  one 
month  to  six  weeks,  in  order  to  destroy  the  coloring  matter  to  which 
we  have  alluded.  To  do  this  requires  a  considerable  space,  which 
is  often  very  expensive,  and  a  heavy  outlay  in  plant,  such  as 
bleaching  frames,  canvas,  &c. ;  this  primitive  condition  of  the 
wax  industry  renders  the  bleaching  not  only  embarrassing,  but 
uncertain  and  variable  according  to  the  weather. 
In  order  to  diminish  the  amount  of  capital  which  was  required 
to  be  sunk  in  this  branch  of  trade,  and  above  all  to  shorten  the 
time  required  to  bleach  the  wax,  M.  Cassgrand,  some  years  ago, 
patented  a  process  in  France,  which  has  now  passed  into  the 
public  domain,  and  which,  it  appears,  has  been  very  successful. 
This  process  consists  in  melting  the  wax  by  means  of  steam 
until  it  becomes  very  liquid,  and  then  passing  it,  along  with  the 
steam,  through  a  kind  of  serpentine  or  worm,  by  which  a  large 
surface  becomes  exposed  to  the  action  of  the  steam.  After 
traversing  the  worm,  it  is  received  into  a  double  bottom  heated 
by  steam,  where  water  is  added  in  order  to  wash  it ;  from  this  it 
is  elevated  by  a  pump,  kept  hot  by  steam,  into  another  pan 
similarly  heated,  and  where  it  is  also  treated  with  water,  and  is 
again  passed  through  the  serpentine.  This  operation  is  repeated 
twice,  thrice  or  four  times,  according  to  the  quality  of  the  wax ; 
during  the  passage  with  the  steam  through  the  worm,  it  becomes 
denser  by,  it  is  said,  absorbing  water  (perhaps  mechanically  ?), 
