364 
Paraffine. 
/am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
t    Aug.  1, 1872. 
wax  and  spermaceti,  to  render  it  less  liable  to  bend  over  in  warm 
weather,  or  to  run.  There  are  single  establishments  in  Germany 
capable  of  turning  out  250,000  candles  daily,  and  in  England  even 
these  figures  are  exceeded.  As  the  melting  point  of  paraffine  is  low, 
it  is  proposed  to  employ  it  for  the  preservation  of  meat.  Meat  sev- 
eral times  immersed  in  a  bath  of  melted  paraffine  will  keep  for  a  long 
time,  and  when  wanted,  it  is  only  necessary  to  melt  off  the  adhering 
wax-like  coating  to  prepare  it  for  cooking.  For  stoppers  to  acid  bot- 
tles, to  coat  paper  for  photographic  and  other  uses,  as  a  lubricator, 
for  candles,  as  burning  oil,  to  coat  pills,  in  the  refinery  of  alcohol  and 
spirits,  paraffine  now  finds  ready  use.  It  has  also  been  employed  for 
the  adulteration  of  chocolate  and  candies  ;  for  the  preservation  of 
railroad  timber;  to  saturate  filter  paper  for  certain  purposes  ;  to  coat 
the  sides  of  vessels  in  which  hydrofluoric  acid  is  to  be  kept ;  to  pre- 
serve fruit  from  decay ;  for  oil  baths  of  constant  temperature  ;  to  pre- 
vent the  oxidation  of  the  protoxides  ;  to  render  fabrics  waterproof; 
as  a  substitute  for  wax  in  the  manufacture  of  matches ;  as  a  disinfect- 
ing agent  and  as  a  varnish  for  leather. 
Franz  Stolba,  of  Prague,  suggests  the  use  of  paraffine  as  a  coating 
to  vessels  of  glass  or  porcelain  when  these  are  acted  upon  by  certain 
liquids  to  be  set  aside  for  crystallization.  The  paraffine  is  put  into 
the  capsules,  previously  well  dried  and  heated,  till  it  commences  to 
boil ;  the  vessels  are  then  turned  about  so  as  to  bring  the  paraffine  in 
contact  with  the  whole  of  the  interior  surface,  and  then  empty  out  the 
surplus.  After  cooling,  it  is  found  to  hold  well,  and  the  vessels  are 
ready  for  use.  Of  course  the  solutions  to  be  crystallized  must  not  be 
heated,  but  left  to  spontaneous  vacuum  evaporation. 
Wine  and  beer  casks  are  rendered  tight  by  paraffine,  and  its  intro- 
duction into  the  vacuum  pans  of  the  sugar  industry  is  said  to  prevent 
frothing  of  the  syrup.  Plaster  casts  are  coated  with  it  ;  drawing 
paper  is  rendered  transparent  ;  parlor  matches  are  tipped  with  it  ; 
sponges  are  kept  elastic ;  cloth  is  rendered  water-tight,  and  it  is  em- 
ployed to  keep  shoemakers'  wax  soft  and  pliable.  A  paraffine  insu- 
lator is  in  use  upon  some  of  our  telegraph  lines,  and  as  there  are  few 
substances  that  can  attack  or  decompose  paraffine,  its  value  in  many 
chemical  processes  is  obvious.  One  of  the  most  recent  uses  is  in  the 
manufacture  of  sulphuretted  hydrogen  gas.  If  sulphur  and  paraffine 
be  boiled  together  in  a  flask,  decomposition  takes  place,  and  a  copious 
supply  of  sulphuretted  hydrogen  is  given  off.    I  have  found  this  to 
