THE 
AMERICAN  JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY. 
JANUARY,  1874. 
PARAFFIN,  COSMOLINE  AND  VASELINE. 
By  A.  W.  Miller,  M.  D.,  Ph.  D. 
(Read  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting,  December  16.) 
In  the  course  of  my  recent  inquiries  concerning  cosmoline,*  I  as- 
certained incidentally  that  the  manufacture  and  purification  of  par- 
affin is  carried  on  in  quite  an  extensive  manner  in  our  city.  It  oc- 
curred to  me  therefore  that  a  few  notes  on  this  subject  might  prove  to 
be  acceptable. 
The  establishments  engaged  in  this  industry  are  mostly  situated  on 
the  Eastern  banks  of  the  Sehuylkill,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Gray's 
Ferry  Arsenal.  The  process  begins  by  subjecting  the  so-called  re- 
siduum of  the  coal  oil  refiners  to  distillation  in  large  stills,  made  of 
five-eighths  inch  boiler  iron,  having  a  capacity  of  about  1500  to  2500 
gallons.  Direct  heat  is  applied  immediately  beneath  the  stills,  the 
bottoms  of  which  toward  the  end  of  the  process  reach  a  white  heat# 
The  distillate  is  condensed  in  a  system  of  iron  pipes,  which  are  con- 
tained in  large  wooden  tanks.  Distillation  begins  at  220°,  and  is 
terminated  at  about  570°.  The  product  is  a  thick,  unctuous  mass  at 
ordinary  temperatures,  but  it  liquefies  at  about  100°,  or  a  little  over. 
It  has  the  peculiar  iridescent  color  and  the  characteristic  odor  of  pe- 
troleum. The  residue  of  the  distillation  is  a  hard,  porous,  black  mass, 
which  is  free  from  odor  and  presents  a  close  analogy  to  the  ordinary 
coke  of  the  gas  works.  In  the  yards  referred  to,  it  is  in  fact  called 
coke,  and  is  used  as  fuel  to  heat  the  stills. 
The  distillate,  which  has  thus  been  obtained,  is  next  treated  with 
from  four  to  five  per  centum  of  sulphuric  acid,  to  kill  the  green,  as  it 
*  See  December  number,  page  534. 
