San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-05-09


Recently the steamer Gaelic brought from
China three small packages carefully in
closed in mating and oil paper, and bearing
the Superscription, Vegetable wax; han
die with care" The weight of these pack
ages was about 600 pounds, but the value
of the contents was alleged 10 be 5000, or
81 pound. The box was consigned to
leading silk manufacturers at Paterson,
\. j., and the use to which the wax was to
be put is the glazing of their mill product.
This wax is peculiar substance, differing
materially from the bee product and is in its
way unique production. In fact it is the
only variety of wax actually secreted by an
animal The wonderful Chinese compita-
ton 'Pen Tsao, Mu-Urh," that treats of
every species of the animal, vegetable and
mineral kingdom known to the author and
his collaborators, speaks of this wax pro-
ducing insect as Giving on dew" and says
that wax perspires from its body"
IT WAS KNOWN OF IN 1855
The substance is, when free from impur-
tiles, white, hard and translucent, melting
at So to 50 dogs. centigrade and can be
handled without soiling anything it comes
in contact with. When used on textile
fabrics it imparts glossy sheen that en-
dures for a long period. Being free from
stearic or any other acid, it does not injure
vegetable or any fibers.
In the work entitled "Novus Atlas ST.
nensis," by Martini, published at Rome in
1855, the first mention of this peculiar wax
is made known to Europeans. The Jesuit
fathers, in their various monographs on
Chinese matters, also mention the subject,
but until 1890 the world at large was in
ignorance of the true habits of the wax
producing insect and the methods en-
ployGd to gather the wax. This knowledge
was gained by Mr.. Hose of the British
consular service, who was stationed at
Chun King, on the upper Yangtse river, in
the border province of Szechuen. His en-
tomological and botanical identification of
the subject is admitted to be conclusive,
and sets at rest the questions that have
been raised from time to time.
The insect itself belongs to the family of
Coccide, an order that embraces the cochi-
neal bug, lac insect, the mealy bug, vine
gall and coffee bug. 1t begins its life on
the leaves of large leaved privet of the
laurel type in the form of small scales, pre-
sumably eggs.
HOW THE WAX Is SECURED.
The tree grows in the Chen Chang val.
ley The embryo insect scales are gathered
from the leaves and made up into paper
packages of catty each Zone and one-third
pounds) and in loads of sixty pounds
porters carry them over mountain and
stream to the high lands near CHA ting
foo in Szechuen. Only during the cool
nights the pOrters travel, as during the
day the temperature is too high and would
70 lo 6 3 he a,,l
their escape from the scales. Upon arrival
at the high lands the scales are unpacked
and from twenty to thirty, inclosed in a
| leaf of the wood oil tree, are attached to
the branches of a species of mountain ash
| (FraXinus Chinensis)
Thirteen days is said to be the period of
incubation, and when the insects emerge
from the scales they travel from the
branches to the leaves, nesting among
them for week. Taking up positions on
the branches, the females commence to de-
post scales, while the males excrete the
substance known as white wax. The wax
appears as white coating on the under
side of the leaves and twigs, and gradually
spreads over the whole branch, attaining
after three months thickness of a quarter
of an inch.
The branches are then Topped off and the
wax removed partly by hand, this being
the first quality, and partly by boiling the
branches, this latter method rendering the
wax dark and inferior. Finally the in
sects that have sunk to the bottom of the
pot are placed in a bag and squeezed under
a rude press until they give up the last
drop of their product. Owing to the crude
treatment the insects and eggs are de-
stroyed, rendering necessary the supply of
fresh scales by the method described.
HOW THE WAX Is USED.
Although undivided attention and re-
search were given to the insects during the
period of production and their active eX-
istence, to the unaided eye there is no
visible impression on leaves or bark. The
deduction is therefore drawn that the wax
is actually produced from the resources of
the insects internal economy, and not OBJ
tanned from the vegetable tissue of the
tree. The strange fact remains that both
the laurel and ash, upon which the insect
is matured and rests in an embryo state,
are both members of the order Oleace, to
which the olive tree belongs.
The Chinese use the wax for coating the
tallow candles used in temples and in the
homes of the wealthy. as a glaze for fine
paper, silks ana cottons, ana also TO pollsn
high grades of furniture and ornaments.
So valuable is the wax deemed that the ut
most care is taken in it's transport to it's
destination, and it is placed in the treasure
rooms of the steamers that carry it from
the upper Yangtse ports to Shanghai and
other points on the Chinese coast, thereby
mourning an expense of extra freightage.
Were it possible to procure supply Of
the eggs of this wax producing insect
there is no doubt that they could be propa-
gated in California, as the laurel ash and
olive grow in luxuriance in the state, and