i? Memoir upon Animal Fat. , 
of this city. A considerable quantity of cochineal, grown 
mouldy and in a state of fermentation, emitted a most dis- 
agreeable smell ; the oxymuriatic acid gas destroyed all these 
putrid emanations, allowed us to approach the cochineal 
without fear, and we were able to save a part of this precious 
commodity. . 
XIII. Memoir upon Animal Fat, and some Medicinal Pre- 
parations which are administered through that Medium. 
By M. Voceu*. 
Frarvhas been a long time the object of chemical inquiries. 
Some have occupied themselves with establishing its charac- 
ters, and others in ascertaining the propriety of its applica~ 
tion in the healing art. The late M. Vogel, professor of 
chemistry at Gottingen, is one of the first whose attention 
was occupied in discovering the nature of this substance. 
On directing his observations to distillation, he perceived 
that human fat yielded a liquid product which had all the 
properties of an acid. 
The author of this memoir was desirous of asieuaseeal 
the difference which existed in the fat of animals whose 
exercises are violent, such as the wolf, the hare, &c., as 
well as that of some carnivorous birds ; but the difficulty of 
procuring a sufficient quantity at one time compelled him 
to defer his labours to a future period. 
His first experiments had for their object to examine 
hog’s lard, per se, and combined with other substances, 
Although this labour is still incomplete, it may lead to some 
very useful observations on the preparation of medicines. 
Effects of Light on Animal Fat.—It is well known that 
fresh lard well purified is without any smell, and ofa mildish 
insipid taste. Exposed for two months to the solar rays, 
without the contact.of the air, it acquires a very rancid 
penetrating smell, a bitter taste, which burns the nie 
* From Annales de Chimie, tome lviii. p. 154. Extracted by M. Bouillon La- 
grange from an Essay read in the Pharmaceutical Society of Paris by the 
late M. Vogel, Chemical Instructor in the School of Pharmacy at Paris, 
and 
