CHINESE WAX. This is secreted by the COCCUS rcriferus (an insect) and deposited on the twigs of the Chinese ash. From these it is removed rq hand and melted in hot water to remove me chanical impurities. The wax is a hard, wlnte, crystalline solid, without taste or smell. It somewhat resembles spermaceti, but is harder and more fibrous. It is slightly soluble in alco hol and completely so in light hydrocarbons. It consists chiefly of ceryi eerotate. Its specific gravity is 0.970 and its inciting-point is to 83° C. (about 1S0° F.). It is used in the East as a substitute for beeswax, but is rarely brought to the United States.
Wool. \\'Ax. This is obtained as a by-product in the process, either by alkaline water or by some hydrocarbon solvent. Wool wax is in reality the sweat of the sheep exuding from the skin of the animal, and is a very com plex mixture, but contains among other com pounds large quantities of the stearic and pal.
mitie esters of cholesterin and iso-cholesterin, and potassium salts of various fatty acids. As prepared by acidifying the wash waters, or dis tilling off the organic solvent, it is a (lark brown compound with a disagreeable odor resembling that of the sheep; by repeated washing in water the soluble compounds are removed, the residue is melted over water, cooled, and allowed to solidify. In this purified state wool wax is a pale-yellow, soft, translucent substance with lit tle if any odor. Its specific gravity is 0.973. One of the most remarkable properties of this substance is its capacity for combining mechani cally with as much as SO per cent. of its weight of water. The neutral wax with 22 to 25 per cent. of water is sold under the name of /ano/in and is used in pharmacy as a basis for ointments. Wool wax is used as a leather-dressing and as a lubricant for wool yarn.