Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  j 
December,  191 7.  > 
Current  Literature. 
615 
clusively  for  the  manufacture  of  the  chemical.  Its  output  has  ac- 
cordingly increased  in  a  large  measure,  and  some  anxiety  is  enter- 
tained with  regard  to  overproduction  after  the  war.  According  to 
latest  investigations,  the  present  total  output  in  this  country  amounts 
to  582,500  tons  a  year,  excluding  the  output  of  a  few  factories  that 
is  not  made  public.  Of  this  quantity,  421,150  tons  is  consumed  by 
the  manufacturers  themselves  for  the  manufacture  of  sulphate  of 
ammonia,  hydrochloric  acid,  etc.,  leaving  the  remaining  161,150 
tons  Available  for  general  requirements.  The  domestic  demands 
now  amount  to  about  100,000  tons  a  year,  so  that  the  quantity  for 
export  is  about  60,000  tons.  It  is  estimated  that  the  output  of  sul- 
phuric acid,  if  turned  out  at  the  present  rate,  will  be  in  excess  of 
the  demand  by  about  100,000  tons  on  the  resumption  of  normal 
conditions  after  the  war.  (Through  Canadian  Department  of  Trade 
and  Commerce,  translated  from  Japan  Weekly  Chronicle.) 
Vegetable-Wax  Industry  of  Japan. — An  industry  of  Japan 
which  has  made  remarkable  progress  in  recent  years  is  that  con- 
cerned with  the  extraction  of  vegetable  wax,  which  is  coming  into 
greater  demand  in  foreign  markets.  The  output  has  been  gradually 
increasing,  and  now  stands  in  the  neighborhood  of  1,700,000  yen, 
or  about  $850,000  per  year.  The  Avork  of  extraction  is  being  or- 
ganized on  a  larger  scale. 
The  principal  regions  of  production  are  in  the  Island  of  Kyushu, 
especially  around  the  city  of  Fukuoka,  Avhich  accounts  for  nearly 
half  of  the  total  output.  The  product  is  used  abroad  principallv  in 
the  manufacture  of  polishes,  pomade  and  soaps,  and  in  dressing 
leather. 
Most  of  this  vegetable  wax  is  derived  from  the  fruit  kernels  of 
a  tree  peculiar  to  Japan,  which  begins  to  fruit  at  about  15  years,  and 
sometimes  bears  heavily  when  it  is  over  100  years  old.  It  reaches  a 
height  of  20  to  25  feet,  and  produces  from  30  to  150  pounds  of  nuts 
annually.  The  best  wax  is  made  from  nuts  that  have  been  kept 
over  the  winter,  and.  generally  speaking,  the  quality  of  the  product 
improves  with  the  age  of  the  nut.  The  wax  is  extracted  by  crush- 
ing and  steaming  the  nuts,  and  then  subjecting  the  mass  to  pressure. 
A  second  wax  is  secured  by  repressing. 
The  crude  wax,  which  solidifies  at  50  degrees,  is  cast  into  round 
moulds  of  a  little  more  than  a  pound  each.  It  is  next  refined,  the 
process  used  being  a  traditional  one  and  peculiar  to  Japan.    It  is 
