wax

A plastic concrete substance, consisting e entially of various compounds of the higher acids of the fatty acid series, especially myricylic and cerotic acids, beesw', bees' w. A yellowish or brownish concrete substance deposited by the honey-bee in the honeycomb. It di olves in boiling alcohol and sparingly in ether, and melts at 630 C. It consists e entially of myricin, cerotic acid, and cerolein. When bleached, it forms the cera alba, when unbleached, the cera flava of the U. S. Ph. and Br. Ph. China w., Chinese (insect) w. A hard, white, crystalline substance, consisting chiefly of ceryl cerotate, used in China and Japan medicinally and for making candles. It is the purified product of an insect (Coccus ceriferus) which deposits it on the twigs of Fraxinus chinensis. ear w. See cerumen, earth w., fo il w. See ozokerite. grave w. See adipocere. Japanese w., Japan w. A hard, waxy fat, derived from the stone fruits of several species of Rhus, consisting chiefly of palm at in. It occurs in commerce in hard, yellowish cakes or large, rectangular blocks covered with a fine white efflorescence, and is used like beesw'. myrica w., myrtle w. Myrtle berry w., the bayberry tallow of commerce; a hard, green, or grayish yellow substance of resinous smell, obtained from various species of Myrica. It is more brittle than beesw', is somewhat bitter, and is readily saponifiable with the alkalis. It varies somewhat in composition. It is used with beesw' for candles, ocuba w. A fatty substance (sometimes confounded with myrtle w.) obtained from the fruits of Myristic a paraffin w. ocuba; used like See paraffin (1st beesw'. def.). pulverulent w. See cera amy lat a, under cera. vegetable w. A waxy substance of vegetable origin, especially myrtle w. white w. See cera alba, under cera, U. S. Ph., Br. Ph.comb tained from yellow w. purification without Beesw' ob- [U. S. Ph., Br. Ph.]. [Ang.-Sax., weax.] waxberry. See Myrica. -way. 1. A road or path. 2. A manner or method, dry w. In chemistry, the employment of heat for liquefaction and chemical heat, wet w. In chemistry, the employment of liquid solvents for chemical tests. weak'ne . Lack of physical or mental force. weaning (ween'ing). The discontinuance of the nursing of a child. Weber's law. The 1. that "when a stimulus is continually increased the smallest increase of sensation which we can appreciate remains the same, if the proportion of the increase of stimulus to the whole stimulus remains the same." W's guaiac turpentine test for occult blood, see in appendix, page 907. W's test. A test for the hearing power. A vibrating tuning fork is placed on the vertex, and the patient observes whether the sound appears more or le loud by the ear under examination when it is stopped by the finger. web-fin' ger. Two of fingers joined between by an the abnormal extension the web base of the fingers. wedge. 1. A solid block two of the opposite sides of which slope to a narrow edge. 2. A piece of soft rubber or strands of silk to be inserted between two teeth to force them apart. [Old Eng., wegge, Weich's elbaum's diplococcus. See Dipwigge, wege.'] lococcus intra cellulars, under diplococcus. [Anton W eichselbaum, Austrian pathologist, born 1845.] Weigert's theory. A theory explaining the formation of antitoxins and other antibodies by the general law of regeneration of the molecular groups of a cell, known as receptors, and their formation in exce owing to continuous stimulation by doses of a toxin. a continuation of thisEhrlich's theory law.is fundamental [Karl Weigert, German pathologist, 1843- 1904-]