^MjaJu°T;m3RM  }  Ceresina  Substitute  for  White  Wax.  11 
CERESIN  A  SUBSTITUTE  FOR  WHITE  WAX. 
By  Joseph  P.  Remington. 
Mead  at  Pharmaceutical  Meeting  of  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy. 
A  sample  of  this  article  was  put  into  the  writer's  hands  for  the 
purpose  of  examination.  It  had  been  sent  to  a  large  manufacturing 
house  in  Philadelphia  from  an  agent  in  Germany,  with  the  intention 
of  introducing  it  here  as  a  substitute  for  beeswax. 
In  appearance  it  is  very  similar  to  white  wax,  in  a  flat  cake,  white, 
shining,  nearly  inodorous,  breaking  shortly  with  a  fracture  like  wax. 
Its  specific  gravity  is  .850,  and  its  fusing  point  135°  F.,  volatilizable 
by  heat,  and  the  sublimed  ceresin  is  reddened  by  the  application  of 
sulphuric  acid ;  it  dissolves  slowly  in  ether,  phenol,  turpentine,  petro- 
leum-benzin,  chloroform,  carbon  bisulphide,  and  freely  in  these 
solvents,  if  heated,  depositing  in  gelatinous  white  flocks  on  cooling, 
nearly  insoluble  in  alcohol  and  methylic  alcohol.  It  is  indifferent 
to  the  strong  mineral  acids,  with  the  exception  of  hot  sulphuric  acid, 
which  acts  on  it  easily,  forming  a  ruby  red  liquid,  which  rapidly 
passes  to  black  with  the  evolution  of  sulphurous  acid.  This  is 
due  to  the  deoxidation  of  the  sulphuric  acid :  its  action  is  first  to 
carbonize  the  ceresin,  and  the  carbon  then  abstracts  oxygen  from  the 
sulphuric  acid,  and  sulphurous  acid  is  liberated ;  neither  potassa 
nor  soda  would  saponify  it.  Prof.  John  M.  Maisch  kindly  informed 
the  writer  of  an  account  in  Hager's  Pharmaceutische  Centralhalle, 
(Oct.  10th),  of  some  of  the  properties  of  this  substance.  The  points 
are  as  follows  : 
Ceresin — fusing  point  between  62°  and  63°  R.  Acids  and  alkalies 
do  not  attack  it  either  cold  or  hot. 
At  high  temperature  it  volatilizes  and  distils  without  change. 
Ceresin  price  in  Vienna,  100  guilders. 
Paraffin  price  in  Vienna,  70  guilders. 
Paraffin  slowly  cooled  becomes  opaque,  and  resembles  wax  more 
than  if  cooled  rapidly. 
Probably  obtained  from  fossil  wax  (Erdwachs)  of  Gallicia,  which 
yields  such  a  paraffin. 
An  imitation  of  yellow  beeswax  is  in  German  commerce.  It  con- 
sists of  paraffin,  colored  yellow  by  curcuma. 
The  Journal  of  Applied  Science  contains  the  following: 
Ceresin  is  a  new  product,  destined  to  play  an  important  part  as  a 
