BO'RAX (Ar. Im;raq, bfirfiq, Pers. bfirah ), or Sontum IlloottATE. A substance crystallizing in the monoclinic system. It occurs native as a saline efflorescence on the shores of a series of lakes, covering a large extent of country, in Ladak, Ceylon, Transylvania, Peru. Chile, in Borax Lake, and other places in the vicinity of Clear Lake, Cal., and in various localities in Nevada. Borax is a clear, white, translucent crystalline compound, soluble in water, and having a pleas ant, sweetish taste. It is prepared for commerce as follows: The crude material called Nom!. from Tibet. Asia. is sent on cheeps' backs over the Himalaya :Mountains to Calcutta. and thence to Europe, where it is purified by washing with a solution of sodium hydroxide. dissolving in water, again treating with caustic alkali to pre cipitate the earths. then evaporating the soln tion,and allowing the borax to crystallize out. Ac cording to some authorities, tineal was brought by caravan beyond China by way of Babylon and Palmyra, to the Alediterranean ports, before the Christian Era. An important source of commer cial borax is found in the volcanic rocks of Tus cany, Italy, where the process. invented in 181S, is as follows: Boric acid, either as vapor or solu tion, is added to a solution of sodium carbonate, which is dissolved in a covered lead-lined vessel, and heated with steam. The solution of borax thus obtained is evaporated until crystals form. The product on the Pacific Coast, which was dis covered in 1864 at Clear Lake, and subsequently extended to other localities. is refined in Ala
meda, where the crude material is dissolved in water, and heated with sodium carbonate in a digester: the resulting solution is drawn into cooling and crystallizing tanks, where the borax forms on steel rods which are suspended in the vats. The product thus obtained is refined by successive crystallizations until the desired de gree of purity is reached. The wholesale price in New York, which was 39 cents in 1864, has, in consequence of the production on the Pacific Slope, fallen to 7 cents, the consumption dur ing this period having increased more than 500 per cent. Borax is extensively used for house hold purposes. It is also employed as a solvent for resins, albumens, fatty acids, and certain organic bodies; also as a detergent, loosening dirt without injury to the finest laces, and as an antiseptic and disinfectant. It also finds ex tensive application as a flux for the glazing of pottery and chinaware, and in the making of enamels. Its property of dissolving metallic oxides makes it useful in soldering metals. It is used as a flux in certain chemical processes, and as a reagent in chemical analysis. Finally. it is often used in medicine. In 1899. 40,714.000 pounds of borax. valued at $1,139,SS2, were pro duced in the United States.