NOTE  ON  JAPAN  WAX. 
561 
If  the  combination  is  found  to  take  place  upon  the  addition  of 
the  first  piece  of  phosphorus,  continue  the  addition  as  quickly 
as  possible  until  a  sufficient  quantity  has  been  added,  which  is 
indicated  by  the  burning  of  the  phosphorus  at  the  mouth  of  the 
tube. 
After  the  operation  is  completed,  remove  all  the  fuel  from 
around  the  crucible,  and  let  it  stand  until  quite  cold  before  re- 
moving the  contents. 
Several  pounds  can  be  made  in  the  manner  above  described  at 
one  operation,  by  having  a  series  of  crucibles  arranged  in  the 
same  furnace.  Four  ounces  of  phosphorus  is  about  the  proper 
quantity  for  a  pound  of  lime,  and  I  have  obtained  from  two 
pounds  of  phosphorus  about  nine  pounds  of  good  phosphide  of 
calcium.  Well  burnt  alum  lime  is  the  best;  the  compact  variety 
does  not  answer  so  well. — Jour,  and  Trans,  of  the  Maryland 
Col  of  Phar. 
NOTE  ON  JAPAN  WAX; 
For  some  years  past  occasional  importations  of  a  kind  of  wax 
have  taken  place  indirectly  from  Japan,  by  way  of  China  and 
Singapore.  This  wax  was  alluded  to  by  Mr.  Daniel  Hanbury 
in  a  note  to  a  paper  published  by  him  in  the  Pharmaceutical 
Journal,  "On  the  Insect  White  Wax  of  China."  Mr.  Hanbury 
describes  it  as  follows  : — 
"My  specimens  consist  of  a  white  wax,  of  somewhat  rancid 
odor,  in  circular  cakes  of  from  four  to  four  and  a  half  inches  in 
diameter,  nearly  one  inch  thick,  flat  on  one  side,  and  rounded 
off  on  the  other,  as  if  cast  in  a  small  saucer.  They  are  sparingly 
covered  with  a  white  powder,  and  in  a  sample  presented  to  me 
by  Messrs.  T.  Merry  and  Son,  present  here  and  there  traces  of 
a  sparkling  crystalline  efflorescence." 
The  fusing  points  of  two  samples  which  Mr.  Hanbury  ex- 
amined were  found  to  be  respectively  125.6°,  and  131°  Fahr. 
Since  the  ports  of  Japan  have  been  open  directly  to  British 
traders,  the  importation  of  this  wax  has  largely  increased,  and 
we  now  receive  it  no  longer  principally  in  cakes,  as  described 
above,  but  in  large  square  blocks  or  cases,  each  of  which  aver- 
ages in  weight  about  133  lbs.    Some  of  it  is  reported  to  have 
