Ozokerite

Of these occurrences the ozokerite of the island (now peninsula) of Cheleken, near Türkmenbaşy Bay, parts of the Himalayas in India and the deposits of Utah in the United States, deserve mention, though the latter have been largely worked out.

In other cases much earthy matter is mixed with the material, and then the rock or shale having been eliminated by hand-picking, the "wax-stone" is boiled with water in large coppers, when the pure wax rises to the surface.

The refined ozokerite or ceresine, which usually has a melting-point of 61 to 78 °C (142 to 172 °F), is largely used as an adulterant of beeswax, and is frequently colored artificially to resemble that product in appearance.

[1] On distillation in a current of superheated steam, ozokerite yields a candle-making material resembling the paraffin obtained from petroleum and shale-oil but of higher melting-point, and therefore of greater value if the candles made from it are to be used in hot climates.

The residue in the stills consists of a hard, black, waxy substance, which in admixture with India-rubber was employed under the name of okonite as an electrical insulator.