200 Chemical Inqtiir'ies mto the Nature of several 



to convert it into pearly matter, should be changed into this 

 matter, or rather into a more alkaline combination. 



24. I ])ut into 160 pranmies of water holdinjj 24 grammes 

 of alcoholized potash, 40 grammes of margarine. The latter 

 became soft !)y heat, gelatinous, and semi-transparent, bv uniting 

 with the potash. The i-ul).stancc.s put in digestion for six hours, 

 at the tem])eraturc of SO" or 90° centigrade, were afterwards 

 allowed to stand by themselves. In fifteen hours a white and 

 opaque ma>s was separated from an almost colourless mother 

 water. This liquid supersaturated with sniphurie aciil deposited 

 a small particle only of margarine, and yielded upon distillation 

 neither acetic acid nor volatile oil. 



25. The white mass separated from the mother water was 

 pressed between -pieces of Joseph paper, until no more liquid was 

 yielded : it was then white and opaque. This method appearing 

 to me to be insufficient for taking up all the alkali which was 

 not in combination with the margarine, I found, after several 

 fruitless experiments, that boiling alcohol dissolved the sub- 

 stance very well, and that upon cooling it was deposited in the 

 form of small needles, wiiich it was very easy to obtain in a state 

 of perfect j)urity by putting them on a filter, washing them with 

 cold alccliol, then s(juee/.ing them in Joseph paper, and exposing 

 them for several hours to the rays of the sun. ~ 



26. Two grammes of these needles, thus treated, decomposed 

 by the muriatic acid, gave 1-72 gr. of margarine, and 0-475 gT. 

 of muriate of potash, representing 0*5072 of base. If we ad- 

 mit that the excess of weight is owing to water retained by the 

 margarine, v,e shall have the following proportion : 



Margarine 100 



Potash 18-14 



This result shov.^s that ^\'hcn we unite directly the margarine 

 with potash, there is a combination formed which contains twice 

 as much alkali as pearly matter ; for we have found this last 

 formed of 100 parts margarine, and 8*88 of potash. Now 

 this quantity multiplied bv two, gives 17*76 which differs only 

 in 0-38 from the foregoing determination. Margarine therefore 

 in these combinations with potash obeys the same laws with the 

 inorganic bodies. 



27. The combination of margarine saturated with potash pre- 

 sents the follovi'ing propei ties : 



28. I! is white, and not so soft to the touch as the pearly 

 matter. It has a very slight alkaline taste. 



20. When we put it into pure water, it is decomposed into a 

 pearly matter and into potash. We may be convinced of this bv 

 putting it into abuiulanee of cold water, and shaking the niixtme 

 from time to time. The matter thrown upon a filter and washed 



yielded 



