Yes; China possesses a tree producing a substance like our tallow, of which the Chinese make their candles; this tallow is extracted from the stone of the fruit, the tallow being a white pulp which surrounds it.  In America, likewise, there is a shrub, a native of the temperate parts, especially towards the sea-side, the seeds of which contain a waxy substance used for the same purpose, and which is extracted by boiling; this shrub is a species of myrtle, and does not attain to any great size.

     Extracted, drawn from.

What is Spermaceti?

A whitish, flaky, unctuous substance, prepared from an oil of the same name, drawn from a particular kind of whale, distinguished from the common whale by having teeth, and a hunch on its back.

     Flaky, having the nature of flakes.

What is Wax?

A soft, yellow, concrete matter, collected from vegetables by the bee, of which this industrious and useful insect constructs its cell.  Wax forms a considerable article of trade; it is of two kinds, the yellow and the white; the yellow is the native wax as it is taken from the hive, and the white is the same washed, purified, and exposed to the air.

     Concrete, grown together, solid.

What Tree produces the beautiful and well-known wood so much used in making the various articles of household furniture?

The Mahogany Tree, growing in America, and the East and West Indies; it frequently grows in the crevices of rocks, and other places of the same description.  This wood was not used for making furniture till near the end of the seventeenth century.  A London physician had a brother, the captain of a West India ship, who, on his return to England, having on board several logs of mahogany for the purpose of ballast, made him a present of the wood, he being engaged in a building project; his carpenter, however, threw it aside, observing that it was too hard to be wrought.  Some time after, the lady of the physician being in want of a box to hold candles, the cabinet-maker was directed to make it of this wood; he also made the same objection, and declared that it spoiled his tools.  Being urged, however, to make another trial, he at length succeeded; when the box was polished, the beautiful color of the wood was so novel, that it became an object of great curiosity.  Before this time, mahogany had been used partially in the West Indies for ship-building, but this new discovery of its beauty soon brought it into general use for making furniture.

     Crevice, a rent, a crack.

     Ballast, the heavy matter placed in the hold of a vessel
     to keep it steady.

What is India Rubber or Caoutchouc?

An elastic, resinous substance, produced from a tree, growing abundantly at Cayenne, Quito, and other parts of South America; and also in some parts of the Indies.  The tree which produces it is large, straight, and about sixty feet high.  There is, however, a small species found in Sumatra and Java, and some of the neighboring islands.