properties of some Fish Oils. ^$9 



ed. And if the ebullition be first made with water, and after- 

 wards with alcohol, there is no further deposit when water is again 

 boiled with it. Alcohol containing this principle in solution 

 was tested with the following reagents : An alcoholic solution 

 of corrosive sublimate when added produced no precipitate, 

 neither did an alcoholic tincture of galls. An alcoholic solu- 

 tion of acetate of lead produced a copious white curdy preci- 

 pitate, and an alcoholic solution of nitrate of silver produced 

 a greyish white precipitate. Water agitated with alcohol 

 containing this principle in solution occasions a permanent 

 jQflilkiness, with the formation of white and yellowish bodies 

 floating on the surface of the fluid. Alcohol boiled with the 

 oil which has previously been boiled with water still indicates 

 a precipitate with acetate of lead, and nitrate of silver, though 

 it is not so copious as in the case where the oil has not been 

 previously boiled with water. When the alcoholic solution 

 derived from cod oil was evaporated by a gentle heat till it 

 was just beginning to char, but while it was still soluble in 

 fixed oil, oil of turpentine, and boiling alcohol, it had the fol- 

 lowing properties : It was of the consistence of crystallized 

 honey, or soft lard, of a brownish colour, easily melted by a 

 very gentle heat. When water is boiled with it, it assumes 

 nearly the form of the flocculi, which are produced by boiling 

 water with cod oil, only a shade darker. It is insoluble in 

 nitrTc and muriatic acids ; but when either of these acids is 

 boiled with it, the flocculi are charred. It is soluble in a boil- 

 ing solution of potass, and ammonia forms a saponaceous com- 

 pound with it. Conjecture might lead us to suppose that this 

 flocculent principle was of a gelatinous or albuminous nature, 

 because the fishes from which the oil is procured contain a 

 considerable portion of these principles. It is insoluble in 

 water, and therefore is not gelatin. It is not coagulable by 

 heat alone, and is soluble in oils and alcohol, and insoluble in 

 water, and therefore is not albumen in any form. It may be 

 supposed to have some of the characteristics of inspissated mu- 

 cus, being precipitated by acetate of lead and nitrate of silver ; 

 but inspissated mucus is not soluble in fixed and essential oils, 

 and does not form saponaceous compounds with alkaline sub- 

 stances. It possesses the properties of adipocire or sperma- 



