NATURAL WAXES 371 



(b) Spermaceti. Spermaceti represents a solid wax which is obtained 

 from marine animals. The U. S. Pharmacopoeia'*^ officially defines this 

 product as a peculiar, concrete, fatty substance, obtained from the head of 

 the sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus Linne) which occurs in "white, 

 somewhat translucent, slightly unctuous masses having a crystalline frac- 

 ture and a pearly lustre, with a very faint odor and a bland, mild taste." 



Spermaceti occurs in the head cavities and blubber, mixed with the 

 sperm oil. In the live whale, the wax is dissolved in the sperm oil. How- 

 ever, when the whale dies, the spermaceti separates as a white spongy mass 

 admixed with sperm oil, from which it can be separated mechanically. In 

 addition to being present in the sperm whale, it has been reported as a com- 

 ponent of the bottlenose whale {Balaena rostrata), as well as of some other 

 cetaceans.*" 



Spermaceti melts between 42° and 44 °C., although an especially pure 

 sample has been reported to melt at 45.8 °C.**'^ Spermaceti is insoluble in 

 water, and practically so in cold ethyl alcohol, but it dissolves in boiling 

 alcohol as well as in ether, chloroform, and other common fat solvents. 

 The specific gravities of 15 samples were found to vary**^ between 0.905 and 

 0.945 at 15°C. 



The approximate chemical composition has been reported by Warth^ as 

 follows : 



Esters of monobasic acids 98-98. 5% 



Saturated 



Laurj-l mj'ristate 1-2% 



Cetyi palmitate 90% 



Laurj^l stearate 3-4% 



Cetyl stearate 11% 



Unsaturated 



Unidentified 1-2% 



Free monobasic acids . 4% 



Laurie acid 



Free monohydric alcohols 1-1 . 5% 



Cetyl, stearyl, and oleyl 



Spermaceti is used as a demulcent, in cosmetics, for the finishing and 

 lustering of linens, in laundry wax, and in special soaps and emulsifj'ing 

 agents. It likewise finds some application in candle making, as it decreases 

 the brittleness. 



(c) Sperm Oil. A number of liquid animal waxes differ from the fatty 

 oils in that they are practically free from glycerides. They consist chiefly 



^'^ U. S. Pharmacopoeia, XIII, Mack Printing Co., Easton, Pa., 1947. 



^'^ E. Thorpe, Dictionary of Applied Chemistry, Revised ed., Longmans, Green & Co., 

 London, Vol. VII, 1927, pp. 454, 455. 



"8 A. H. Warth and E. M. Hanzely, Vnpiiblished report. Cited by .\. H. Warth, The 

 Chemistry and Technology of Waxes, Reinhold, New York, 1947, p. 82. 



3« L. F. Kebler, Am. J. Pharm., 68, 7-10 (1896); 69, 104-107 (1897). 



