Paraffin from Beech Tar: Reichenbach's Method

Carl Reichenbach first made paraffin in 1830, from the tar of beech wood. Sheridan Muspratt (1860) gives his way of making it: the heavy oil of beech tar, cleaned with strong sulfuric acid, gives up a white wax that is pressed and recrystallised. The yield is small; later paraffin came from shale, coal and petroleum.