Sealing Wax.
Following are formulas for making sealing wax:—Fine red sealing wax—Pale shellac, 4 oz.; Venice turpentine, 10 drachms; English vermilion, 2 oz. Ordinary red sealing wax—Shellac, 2 oz.; resin, 4 oz.; Venice turpentine, 12 drachms; chrome red, 12 drachms. Cheap red bottle wax—Resin, 10 oz.; turpentine, 1 oz.; beeswax, 1½ oz.; tallow, 1 oz.; red lead or red ochre, 3 oz. The manipulation is about the same for the three kinds. First, the resins are melted with as low a heat as will suffice, then the turpentine, previously warmed, is to be added, and lastly the coloring material. The first quality is only used in sticks, and the third, when melted, for dipping bottles in. The second can be employed for either purpose. When the wax is used for dipping it should be kept at a temperature just sufficient to render it liquid, as too much heat causes it to foam and to rapidly become brittle. Even with this precaution, it is necessary to add a little turpentine, from time to time, to replace the essential oil lost by evaporation.