APPENDIX J 



The Manufacture of Sperm Oil and of Spermaceti Candles ^ 



Crude oil, or oil in its natural state, is that which is obtained from the 

 blubber of the whale in the process of "trying out" on shipboard. The oil, 

 then, which is taken from whale ships and carried to the oil manufactory, is 

 said to be in its crude state. We will speak first of the manufacture of 

 crude sferm oil. 



The first step in the process of manufacture, is to take the oil in its crude 

 state, and put it into large kettles, or boilers, and subject it to a heat of one 

 hundred and eighty to two hundred degrees, and then all the water which 

 happened to become mixed with the oil, either on shipboard or since, will 

 evaporate. 



Winter Strained Sperm Oil. In the fall, or autumn, the oil is boiled for 

 the purpose of granulation during the approaching cold weather. The oil 

 thus passes from a purely liquid into a solid state, or one in which it is in 

 grains, or masses. 



When the temperature of the atmosphere rises, or the weather slackens 

 during the winter, the oil which has been frozen, but is now somewhat 

 softened, is shovelled out of the casks and put into strong bags that will hold 

 half a bushel or more, in order to be pressed. . . . The oil which is now 

 obtained from this first pressing is called winter strained sferm oil. 



Spring Sperm Oil. What remains in the bags after the first pressing, is 

 again heated by being put into boilers, after which it is baled into casks again, 

 and upon cooling, it becomes more compact and solid than it was before. 



During the month of April, when the temperature is about fifty degrees, 

 the oil becomes softened; it is then put into bags, and goes through a second 

 process of pressing similar to the first. The oil from this pressing is called 

 sfring strained sferm oil. 



Tight Pressed Oil. That which is left in the bags after the second press- 

 ing, is again melted, and put into tin pans or tubs which will hold about 

 forty pounds each. When this liquid is thoroughly cooled, as each pressing 

 makes what is left harder, in consequence of extracting the oil, the cakes 

 taken from the tubs are then carried into a room heated to about ninety 



1 This material has been taken verbatim from a description given by Holmes, 

 Lewis, in his volume on "The Arctic Whaleman," pp. 288-296. The author ob- 

 tained his facts directly from a certain Charles J. Barney, foreman of Dr. 

 Daniel Fisher's oil factory, in Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard. As a detailed 

 account of industrial processes which have long since been forgotten, this de- 

 scription of the manufacturing phase of the whale fishery is not without some 

 historical interest. 



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