636 WAX TREE. 
and planting these out at the distance of about 
three feet from each other. The Myrica Caroli- 
nensis succeeds wherever the soil is light and 
rather moist ; and has been Jong known to flourish 
even in the dry sands of Prussia. In this latter 
kingdom, as we learn from an interesting memoir 
of Charles Louis Cader, inserted in the Annales 
de Chimie, it was successfully cultivated by the 
late Mr. Sulzer in a garden on the banks of the 
Spree, half a league from the city of Berlin, in 
latitude 52° 53’, which is nearly a degree and a 
half further north than London, and where the 
mean annual temperature is only 2° 9’ higher 
than that of London. Here the wax tree at- 
tracted the peculiar notice of every visitor by 
the delicious odour of its leaves, which they pre- 
served a long time, and the fragrance of its ber- 
ries. The wax obtained from these berries was 
also so highly odoriferous, that a single candle 
formed from it not only perfumed the room in 
which it was lighted during the period of its 
burning, but also for a very considerable time 
after it was extinguished. From what has been 
said we may, I think, fairly conclude that this 
valuable plant is capable of being successfully 
cultivated in the light sandy soils of a consider- 
able part of Hampshire, in the Isle of Wight, in 
the vicinity of Plymouth, and in many parts of 
the open, and, at present, neglected tract in the 
neighbourhood of the Lizard, where acres, now 
not worth 2s. 6d. an acre for their produce above 
ground, might be made almost to rival on their 
surface the wealth which they conceal in their 
bowels, In America, a very fertile shrub will 
yield nearly 7 lbs, of berries, 4 lbs. of which 
yield 1 lb. of wax. This, when melted, is of a 
greenish yellow colour, and of a firmer consis- 
tence than bees’ wax. Candles made of it give a 
white flame and good light without smoke, and do 
not gutter like tallow candles. When quite fresh 
they afford a balsamic odour, which the inhabi- 
tants of Louisiana esteem highly salubrious. The 
following is the simple process by which the wax 
is separated from the berries. Having collected 
a sufficient quantity, they are thrown into a ket- 
tle and covered with water to the depth of about 
six inches; the whole is then boiled, stirring the 
grains about, and rubbing the berries against the 
sides of the vessel to facilitate the separation of 
the wax, which rises to the surface of the water 
like fat, and is skimmed off with a spoon, after 
which it is strained through a coarse cloth to 
free it from impurities. When no more wax 
rises, the berries are removed with a skimmer, 
and a fresh supply put into the same water, 
taking care to add boiling water to supply the 
place of that evaporated during the process, and 
changing the water entirely after the second 
time. When a considerable quantity of wax 
has been thus obtained, it is laid upon a cloth 
to drain off the water still adhering to it; after 
which it is dried and melted a second time to 
purify it, and is then formed into cakes for 
_ WEASEL. 
use.” See the articles Wax and OanpLEBERRY 
Myrrie. 
WAX (VucEetTaBiE). See Wax and Wax Tree. 
WAY BENNET. See Barury. 
WAY-BREAD. See Pratyrain. 
WAYFARING TREE. See Visurnum. 
WEANING. The means employed to induce 
a young mammalian animal to cease sucking, 
and to habituate itself to the use of common 
food. See the articles Foan, Car, and Saexp. 
WHASEL,—scientifically Mustela Vulgaris. A 
digitigrade, carnivorous mammal, constituting 
the type of a somewhat numerous family, com- 
prising the polecats, the ferrets, the stoat, the 
skunk, the martens, the otters, and some foreign 
weasels. It differs remarkably from most other 
quadrupeds, except those of its own family, in the 
small proportion which its height bears to its 
length. Its height is not above 2} inches; its 
length from the nose to the tail is about six or 
seven inches ; its tail is only 24 inches long, and 
so ends in a point as to add considerably to the 
apparent length of the body. The back, the 
sides, and the legs have a prevailingly pale tawny 
brown colour, resembling that of cinnamon; the 
throat and the belly are white; each jaw, be- 
neath the corner of the mouth, has a spot of 
brown; the eyes are small, round, and black ; 
the ears are broad and large, and, in consequence 
of a fold at the lower part, have the appearance 
of being double; the cheeks are whiskered like 
those of a cat; and the teeth amount to thirty- 
two, and are eminently adapted to the tearing 
and chewing of the food. The female brings 
forth in spring, and bestows great care on the 
comfort of her young, and prepares for them a 
bed of straw, hay, leaves, and moss. From three 
to five young ones form a litter, and are born 
blind, but soon acquire both sight and strength 
to follow their dam in her excursions. The 
weasel moves by unequal bounds or leaps; and, 
in climbing a tree, it gains a height of some feet 
from the ground by a single spring; and even 
runs so facilely and nimbly up the sides of a 
wall as to be able to make good its entrance into 
a hole or retreat at any altitude and in any sort 
of situation. It leaps upon its prey at a single 
bound, and sometimes at one long leap and from 
a concealed point of observation ; and it possesses 
such flexibility of body and such agility of action 
as easily to evade the attacks of much stronger 
animals than itself. It always preys in silence, 
and never utters a cry of any kind or at any 
time except a sort of rough squeaking when 
it is angry or pained. It frequents barns, gra- 
naries, outhouses, and farm-yards, and is both 
a friend and a foe to the farmer, sometimes 
doing more good than harm, and sometimes 
more harm than good; and in summer, it 
ventures to a distance from its usual haunts, 
and goes in quest of colonies or swarms of 
rats, and may often be found by the side of 
water in the vicinity of corn-mills. It serves 
