586 
Examination  of  Beeswax. 
Am.  Jour.  Pbarm. 
Dec,  1893. 
well-known  method  of  Hubl1  (not  the  iodine  number)  who  was  the 
first  to  apply  the  method  in  a  practical  way.  The  method  is  some- 
times awarded  to  Hehner,  who  translated  his  results  into  cerotic 
acid  and  palmate  of  myricle.  Hehner2  applied  the  method  about 
half  a  year  before  Hubl,  but  Becker3  was  the  first  to  apply  the  prin- 
ciple of  Kottstorfer4  to  the  analysis  of  beewax.  Hiibl's  method  is 
now  recognized  as  the  most  elegant,  most  convenient  as  well  as  the 
best  method  for  establishing  the  purity  of  this  article.  The  method5 
in  detail  is  :  heat  3  or  4  gms.  of  the  wax  with  20  cc.  of  neutral,  95 
per  cent,  alcohol,  titrate  while  hot  with  a  seminormal  alcoholic  solution 
of  potassium  hydroxid  and  phenolphthalein,  to  estimate  the  acid 
number,  now  add  20  cc.  more  of  the  alkaline  solution  and  saponify 
by  boiling  the  solution  briskly  with  a  reflux  condenser  for  one  hour 
to  insure  complete  saponification.  The  excess  of  alkali,  is  then 
titrated  back  with  seminormal  hydrochloric  acid.  The  number  of 
mgs.  of  potassium  hydroxid  required  to  saturate  the  free  acids  of  one 
gram  of  wax  is  called  the  "  acid  number,"  that  required  to  decompose 
the  wax  ethers  the  "  Ether  Number." 
The  acid  number  varies  from  19-21  mgs.,  the  ether  number  from 
73-76  while  their  ratio  is  from  1:3-5  to  1:3-8.  For  complete 
saponification  from  92-97  mgs.  of  potassium  hydroxid  are  required. 
After  having  secured  the  acid  and  the  ether  numbers  the  quantity 
of  cerotic  acid  or  its  equivalent  and  myricin  are  easily  calculated. 
Extreme  care  must  be  taken  in  the  titrations  on  account  of  the 
extraordinarily  high  molecular  weights  of  both  cerotic  acid  (410)  and 
myricin  (676).  1  cc.  of  normal  alkali  represents  410  mgs.  of  cerotic 
acid  and  676  mgs.  of  myricin,  respectively. 
Determination  of  the  Alcohols. — Unquestionably  the  alcohols  of 
beeswax  belong  to  the  same  series,  consequently  they  possess  the 
same  chemical  properties.  Dumas  and  Stas  described  an  important 
reaction  of  the  fatty  alcohols,  viz :  the  reaction  which  they  give 
when  heated  to  a  moderate  temperature  with  potassium  hydroxid. 
These  alcohols  when  so  treated  are  converted  into  the  correspond- 
1  1883,  Dingl.  poly.  J.,  249,  338. 
2  1883,  Analyst,  8,  16. 
3  1880,  Corr.  Bl.  Ver.  anal.  Chem.,  2,  57  ;  Abst.  Zeit.  anal.  Chem.,  19,  241. 
4  1879,  Zeit.  anal.  Chem.,  18,  199  and  431  ;  Analyst,  4,  106. 
•51892,  H  Rottger,  Chem.  Ztg.,  16,  1837;  J.  Chem.  Soc,  64,  351. 
G.  Buchner,  Ibid.,  16,  1922  ;  Ibid.,  64,  351. 
