A wax-like substance obtained by treating ozokerite (fossil wax) with sulfuric acid; used as a substitute for beeswax.
From Latin 'cereus' (wax) plus the suffix '-in' (chemical compound). Created in the 19th century as an industrial alternative to expensive beeswax.
Ceresin represents the exact moment when industrial chemistry started replacing nature—once factories learned to transform ancient fossil wax into a product that could do everything beeswax could do, the price of candles plummeted and changed human history.
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