PROCESS OF EXTRACTING OIL. 403 



off by means of shallow tinned iron or copper ladles, 

 called 6-khnmc?'s, without disturbing the refuse, and 

 mixing it with the oil. There must always, however, 

 be a small quantity towards the conclusion, which is 

 a mixture of oil and footing ; such is put into a cask 

 or other suitable vessel by itself, and when the 

 grossy part has thoroughly subsided, the most pure 

 part is skimmed off, and l)ecomes fine oil, and the 

 impure is allowed to accumulate by itself in another 

 vessel, where, in the end, it affords " brown-oil." 



The refuse now left in the copper, is hailed into 

 a tunnel or spout, which conveys it into the fenk- 

 back, where it remains as long as the capacity of 

 the vessel will admit ; a portion of brown-oil, which 

 is constantly found rising to the surface, being, in 

 the mean time, occasionally skimmed off. 



A few years ago, my Father instituted a process 

 for reducing blubber into oil, by the use of steam ; 

 and a similar process has been adopted in Hull and 

 other ports, and applied to the extraction of oil, 

 with considerable advantage. 



From a ton, or 252 gallons by measure, of blub- 

 ber, there generally arises from .50 to Q5 gallons of 

 refuse, whereof the greater part is a watery fluid. 

 The constant presence of this fluid, which boils at a 

 much lower temperature than the oil, prevents the 

 oil itself from boiling, which is, probably, an advan- 

 tage, since, in the event of the oil being boiled, 

 some of the finest and most inflammable parts would 



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