76 
Ozokerit  and  Cere  sin. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Feb  ,  1877. 
these  produce  an  "  earth-wax  "  which  is  chiefly  used  for  the  manufac- 
ture of  paraffin. 
Occasionally  there  are  found  pieces  of  ozokerit,  which  is  very  com- 
pact, as  hard  as  gypsum,  fuses  above  ioo°  C,  and  is  dichroitic  (dark 
green  in  reflected  and  pure  yellow  in  refracted  light). 
The  composition  of  ozokerit  is  best  expressed  by  the  formula  CnH2n. 
Very  little  is  known  about  its  formation.  It  appears  to  me  to  be  very 
probable  that  it  has  to  be  considered  as  a  product  of  the  oxidation  and 
condensation  of  petroleum  hydrocarbons.  Only  lately  we  have  seen 
that  hydrocarbons,  as,  e.  naphthalene,  can  form  by  oxidation  not 
products  containing  oxygen,  but  dinaphthil : 
2C10H8+O=C20Hu+H2O. 
By  supposing  a  similar  oxidation  of  hexan  or  octan,  we  obtain  com- 
pounds of  the  formula  CnH2n,  which  again  may  condense  with  hydro- 
carbons of  the  marsh-gas  series,  and  thus  give  rise  to  the  formation  of 
very  complicated  hydrocarbons  of  high  melting  point,  e.  g.  : 
1  2C8H18+02=C16H32+2H20. 
2  C16H32+CSHI8+0=C24H48+H20. 
By  this  hypothesis  the  formation  of  petroleum  may  be  reduced  to  an 
oxidation  of  marsh-gas,  and  thus  the  close  connection  between  ozokerit, 
petroleum  and  coal  be  explained  in  the  most  simple  manner. 
As  stated  above,  the  crude  ozokerit  is  separated  from  the  gangue  by 
melting,  and  worked  into  paraffin  or  ceresin.  The  trying  is  effected 
either  by  direct  fire  or  by  steam.  In  the  former  case  the  ozokerit  is 
placed  into  iron  kettles  of  about  one  and  a  half  meter  in  diameter  by 
one  meter  in  height,  melted,  drawn  off,  and  the  residue  boiled  with 
water,  when  all  the  ozokerit  will  rise  to  the  surface  of  the  water.  In 
the  latter  case  the  melting  is  done  by  steam  in  the  same  manner  as  with 
paraffin  or  stearin,  and  needs  no  further  description.  The  tried  ozokerit 
is  clarified  by  allowing  it  to  settle  for  several  hours,  and  then  poured 
into  iron  moulds.  It  is  shipped  in  this  form  without  any  further 
packing,  and  in  pieces  of  about  fifty  to  sixty  kilograms. 
There  are,  principally,  two  kinds  of  commercial  ozokerit,  prime 
and  second.  Prime  u  wax  "  ought  to  be  as  free  as  possible  from  earthy 
impurities,  and  in  small,  transparent,  greenish  brown  to  yellow  pieces  ; 
the  lighter  in  color  and  the  more  transparent  the  better  it  is.  "  Second 
wax  "  is  dark  brown,  almost  apaque,  occasionally  containing  a  great 
deal  of  earthy  impurities,  and  is  generally  much  softer  than  the  prime. 
