6i6 
Varieties. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Dec,  1891. 
Professor  Dr.  Victor  von  Richter  died  suddenly  in  Breslau,  October  8,  in 
the  fifty-first  year  of  his  age.  He  was  the  son  of  a  Lutheran  pastor  in  Dobten, 
Courland,  Russia;  studied  physics  and  chemistry  at  Dorpat,  was  assistant  to 
Mendelejeff  from  1862  to  1872,  and  for  two  years  professor  at  the  Academy  at 
Nowo-Alexandria,  Poland  ;  in  1875  he  became  private  lecturer,  and  since  1879, 
professor  of  chemistry,  at  the  University  of  Breslau.  The  deceased  was  an 
indefatigable  investigator  in  synthetical  chemistry ;  but  his  name  is  most 
familiar  as  the  author  of  a  work  on  inorganic  chemistry,  and  one  on  the 
chemistry  of  the  carbon  compounds,  both  of  which  have  been  translated  into 
several  languages  ;  one  of  these  was  only  recently  noticed  in  our  October  issue, 
page  517. 
VARIETIES. 
Bleaching  of  Beeswax ;  Composition  of  White  Wax.  By  A.  Buisine  and 
P.  Buisine. — In  the  bleaching  of  beeswax,  light  is  the  chief  factor,  since  the 
bleaching  goes  on  in  a  vacuum,  or  in  an  atmosphere  of  carbonic  anhydride, 
nitrogen,  etc.,  but  ceases  in  the  dark  even  in  an  atmosphere  of  ozone.  Pure 
beeswax  becomes  brittle  when  bleached  by  exposure  ;  and  to  prevent  this,  it  is 
customary  to  add  3-5  per  cent,  of  suet,  which  also  expedites  the  bleaching  pro- 
cess ;  the  addition  of  turpentine  oil  has  a  similar  effect.  Other  agents  made 
U6e  of  are :  Potassium  permanganate,  potassium  dichromate,  hydrogen 
peroxide  and  animal  charcoal. — Bull.  Soc.  Chim.  [3],  4,  465-470. 
Estimation  of  Boric  Acid  in  Milk  and  Cream.  By  C.  E.  Cassai,. — The 
usual  tests  suffice  for  the  detection  of  boric  acid  and  borates  in  milk  and  cream, 
but  for  their  estimation  the  milk  or  cream  is  rendered  alkaline,  evaporated 
and  incinerated,  and  successive  small  quantities  of  methyl  alcohol  are  distilled 
from  the  ash  previously  acidified  with  acetic  acid.  The  distillate  is  collected 
on  a  known  quantity  of  ignited  lime,  which  is  subsequently  re-ignited  and 
reweighed  :  the  increase  in  weight  is  boric  acid.  —Analyst,  15,  230-232. 
