Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
Feb.,  1877.  J 
Ozokerit  and  Cere  sin. 
17 
Both  are  used  for  the  manufacture  of  either  paraffin  and  illuminating 
oils  or  ceresin.  The  manufacture  of  paraffin  from  ozokerit  is 
effected  by  distillation  over  direct  fire,  from  iron  retorts,  with  flat 
bottoms,  containing  from  700  to  1,000  kilograms.  The  products  of 
the  distillation  are  : 
Benzin,  .  .  .  .    2  to    8  per  cent. 
Naphtha,  .  .  .       15  "  20  " 
Paraffin,        .  .  .  .  36  l<  50 
Heavy  (lubricating)  oils,  .        15  "  20  " 
Coke,  .  .  .  .  10  "  20  " 
The  paraffin  is  pressed,  treated  with  sulphuric  acid  and  caustic  soda,, 
filtered  through  paper  and  fine  animal  charcoal,  and  manufactured  into 
candles.  The  naphtha  is  purified  in  the  usual  way,  and  the  heavy  oils 
are  sometimes  subjected  to  fractional  distillation,  but  mostly  shipped  as 
such  to  Vienna. 
The  manufacture  of  ceresin  consists  of  the  removal  of  the  impuri- 
ties from  the  "  earth  wax  "  by  the  aid  of  sulphuric  acid  and  animal 
charcoal  ;  but  only  the  best  kinds  of  ozokerit  are  used.  The  different 
processes  are  kept  secret,  and  are  also  protected  by  patents.  In 
general,  the  ozokerit  is  melted  with  concentrated  sulphuric  acid  and 
the  residue  from  the  manufacture  of  yellow  prussiate,  pressed,  treated 
again  with  prussiate  residue  and  filtered.  100  parts  good  prime  "  earth- 
wax  "  yield  60  to  70  parts  white  wax,  which  in  its  properties  very 
closely  resembles  white  beeswax  and  is  called  "  ceresin."  It  is  either 
further  purified  by  repeated  treatment  with  acid  and  prussiate  residue, 
or  colored  with  gamboge  or  alkanet,  and  thereby  made  to  closely 
resemble  common  beeswax.  In  the  manufacture  of  ceresin  only  sul- 
phurous acid  and  press  residues  are  obtained,  the  former  of  which 
escapes  into  the  air,  but  might  be  utilized,  thus  reducing  the  cost  con- 
siderably. The  consumption  of  sulphuric  acid  in  Borislaw  alone  is 
said  to  amount  to  one  million  kilograms  a  year.  The  prussiate 
residues  are  obtained  from  the  lixiviation  of  the  crude  prussiate  in 
Moravia. 
The  finely  divided  animal  charcoal  seems  to  be  the  active  agent,, 
since  a  fair  ceresin  may  be  obtained  by  simply  treating  commercial 
"earth  wax"  with  bone  char  and  concentrated  sulphuric  acid. 
Comparatively  only  a  small  quantity  of  earth-wax  is  worked  in 
Galicia  ;  it  is  shipped  principally  to  England,  Moravia  and  Vienna, 
