Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 May 1892 — The White Wax of Chian. [ARTICLE]

The White Wax of Chian.

One of the most curious products of China is insect wax, of which 1,539,280 pounds, worth $460,000 in gold, were shipped from Ichang on the Yang-tse river in 1889. It is a product of the western part of the province of Se-Chuen, in central China, where the wax insect flourishes best and finds its food most abundant Early in aho spring numer ous brown, pea-shaped scales appear on the bark of the boughs and twigs dt the Chinese evergreen tree. They obtain a mass of small animals, like flour, whose movements are almost imperceptible. The female wax insects develop the scales and deposit their, eggs in them and the males excrete the substance known as white wax, which is supposed to be intended by nature to protect the scales. The arax is spread over the whole branch to the depth of a quarter of an inch. When the deposit appears to be complete the branches are cut off and as much of the wax as possible is removed by hand. The rest is secured by boiling the branches, which destroys the scules and larva. The wax is put into boiling water, where it melts, and, rising to the surface, is skimmed off and put inte molds. The white wax is a substance of great utility in China. It melts only at a high temperature and is used chiefly to cover candles made of animal and vegetable tallow to prevent too rapid combustion. It is used also as sizing for paper and cotton goods, a glaze for silk, and a polish for furniture. Minister Denby and Mr. Hosie, the British oousular agent in Se-Chuen, says that the proportions of this industry are enormous. Immense quantities of the wax have been shipped from other ports of tbe Yang-tse river, and some of it is sent across the mountains to Canton. Minister Denby has seen thousands of pounds of it in large round cakes stored away in a single room. The introduction of foreign kerosene, which is now used very largely in China, is having a discouraging influence on the gathering of white wax. The industry, therefore, is not thriving as it did once, and the decline is another example of the great ohanges which the entrance of foreigners into China are making in many branches of native trade. [Chicago Times.