Page:Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Vol 1.djvu/425

Rh Portuguese settlements; and the same tree also produces a gum as food for man, and another substance employed to fatten poultry.

The substance cxamined by Mr. Brande resembles that procured from the Ceraa'ylon Andicala described by Humboldt. The Ceroxylon, however, is a tall palm-tree, growing about 1000 toises or more above the level of the sea; but the Brazilian plant is a low tree, and grows in a country where it does not appear that there are any mountains. By analysis also, these products differ entirely; for that of Humboldt, according to Vauquelin’s analysis, consists of two thirds resin and one third wax; while that from Brazil is entirely wax, Without any perceptible quantity of resin.

Mr. Brande received this wax in the state of a coarse pale-grey powder, soft to the touch, mixed with pieces of bark, and other impurities, amounting to nearly 40 per cent.

It melts at 206° Fahrenheit; and if then puriﬁed by straining through linen, it acquires a dirty green colour; when cold it is hard and brittle, and its speciﬁc gravity is 980.

In water this wax is wholly insoluble; but by boiling some hours, it communicates a brownish hue to the water, and its peculiar smell.

Alcohol also has no eﬂ'ect on it when cold. Nevertheless, by the assistance of heat, two ﬂuid ounces dissolve ten grains; but eight of these are deposited again as the solution becomes cool, and the re- mainder may be precipitated by addition of water.

Ether dissolves a small proportion at the temperature of 60°; and when boiled upon it, two ﬂuid ounces dissolve thirty grains, but de- posit twenty-six upon cooling.

Fixed oils unite with it very readily by the assistance of heat, and the compounds are in general perfectly soluble in ether, which ap- pears owing to the solubility of these oils, although they are not ge- nerally supposed to be soluble. _

According to Mr. Brande’s experiments, four ﬂuid ounces of ether dissolve 17% ﬂuid ounce of oil of almonds, 1% ﬂuid ounce of olive oil, 2—},- ﬁuid ounces of linseed oil; and with castor oil it unites in any proportion.

In alcohol, having the speciﬁc gravity of 820, castor oil is also perfectly soluble; but the other ﬁxed oils are very sparingly soluble; and even castor oil is scarcely soluble in alcohol that has the speciﬁc gravity of 840, unless camphor be added to it. But even this addition will not render other ﬁxed oils soluble in the same mmstruum.

When the wax was boiled in a solution of caustic potash, it communicated to the liquor a slight rose colour, but was not dissolved, nor altered in its properties.

The effects of a solution of pure soda were precisely similar, but pure ammonia had scarer any effect on the wax.

By boiling in nitric acid, the colour of the wax is converted into a deep yellow; and after being washed and cooled, it is found to have become more brittle and harder than before ; but neither the fusibility nor the inﬂammability of the wax are impaired, even by the alternate action of acids and of alkalies upon it.