452 . IOWA ACADEiMY OF SCIENCE Vol. XXV, 1918 



ant, resembling nuts. They are light amber in color and have 

 about the consistency of warm castor oil. 



The German Pharmacopeia states that pure almond oil 

 should remain clear at -10° C. This specimen became opaque, 

 showing that we had a mixture of oils and not one individual. 

 At low temperatures the oils showed marked changes. The first 

 change in color began at -5° C. when white globules separated 

 out and settled to the bottom. This indicated that one of the oils 

 solidified at that temperature. We kept that temperature con- 

 stant until all the oil which had a tendency to solidify, had sep - 

 rated out. We set this oil aside for further study which we 

 record later. The amber oil, which eonstituted about 90 per cent 

 of the whole oil content, was drawn off with a pipette and sub- 

 jected to lower temperatures. At -18° C. there was no sign of 

 solidification but at -19° C. the oil became viscous while at -20" 

 C. it began to become solid. 



The specific gravity of the oil was next determined by weigh- 

 ing out several portions of two centimeters each on a watch 

 glass of constant weight, and computing the weight per centi- 

 meter of the oil. We found the specific gravity to be .922, .925 

 and .924 in three respective cases. This is consistent with the 

 results secured by T. Maben wL 'nvestigated the oil in almond 

 nuts. He records the specific gravity of that oil as .918 to .923. 



Two grams of the oils were weighed out on a constant watch 

 glass and set aside at room temperature for a period of forty 

 hours. After that time the oil was weighed again, noting the 

 loss in weight. The oil is slightly volatile, since during that 

 period it had lost one and one-half per cent of its original 

 weight. 



In determining the saponification equivalent of the oil under 

 examination, we first prepared a normal solution of KOH in 

 absolute alcohol. This was done by dissolving 56 grams of 

 KOH in 800 cc. of the solvent and then diluting to a litre. We 

 weighed 4.317 grams of the oil into an eight ounce flask and 

 added to it exactly 30 cc. of the alcoholic solution of KOH. 

 The flask was connected with an inverted condenser and the 

 contents kept at a boiling temperature for thirteen hours. We 

 cooled the flask and added 200 cc. of water. Then to determine 

 the amount of the oil which had been saponified by the KOH, 

 we titrated the contents of the flask with normal HCl, using 

 pheuolphthalein as an indidator. The difference between the 



