Cera Alba. Cera Flava.
CERA ALBA.
Yellow wax bleached by exposure to air, light, and moisture. (See Cera Flava.)
Common Name: White Wax.
Description.—A yellowish-white solid, translucent in thin layers, having an insipid taste and a faint but not rancid odor. It dissolves readily in volatile and fixed oils and fuses with fats and resins.
Preparation,—Ceratum, Cerate, (Simple Cerate). (White Wax 3, Benzoinated Lard 7.)
CERA FLAVA.
A peculiar concrete substance prepared by melting and purifying the honey-comb of the Apis mellifera, Linné, or Common Honey Bee.
Common Names: Yellow Wax, Beeswax.
Description.—A yellowish to gray-brown solid, of a honey-like odor and faint balsamic taste. It is brittle when cold and breaks with a granular fracture. Soluble in ether, chloroform and fixed and volatile oils.
Uses.—Both white and yellow wax are principally employed in the making of ointments, cerates, and plasters, to impart to them proper consistence and tenacity.
