186 Mr. Stenhouse's Chemical Examinatioii of' 



This gives the formula 



Carbon 35 = 2675-225 



Hydrogen 56 = 34.9-426 



Oxygen 1 = 100-000 



3I24'651. 

 It is somewhat singular that this is precisely the composi- 

 tion which Dr. Kane found for the oil of Mentha viridis. 



XXXVI. Chemical Examination of Palm Oil and Cacao 

 Butter. iSj/ John Stenho USE, ^sg'.* 



Palm Oil. 

 nPHIS oil has of late years become rather an important ar- 

 tide of commerce, from the great extent to which it is 

 employed in the manufacture of soap. It is chiefly imported 

 from the coast of Africa, and is derived, according to some 

 botanists, from the Cocus Butyracca, according to others from 

 the Avoira Elais. It is extracted by boiling the bruised 

 fruit in water ; the oil collects as a cake on the surface, from 

 which it is easily removed. It has a butyraceous consistence, 

 is of a reddish yellow colour, and has an agreeable aromatic 

 odour. When long kept it becomes readily rancid, and 

 whitens at the same time, especially if exposed to the influence 

 of the light and air. Soap made with the unbleached oil is 

 of a yellow colour, but white soap may be made from it if the 

 oil has been previously bleached. This may be done in va- 

 rious ways ; by melting the oil in hot water and treating it 

 with peroxide of manganese and sulphuric acid, or by keeping 

 it melted, spread out in thin layers on iron plates. It has 

 also been proposed to bleach it with hypochlorite of lime 

 and dilute sulphuric acid ; and bichromate of potash and 

 muriatic acid have more recently been employed for the same 

 purpose. 



It was first observed by Zier, and the observation has been 

 since confirmed by Messrs. Pelouze and Boudet, that palm oil 

 is strongly acid, and that its acidity increases with the age of the 

 oil. The quantity of free acid it contains is very great, often 

 amounting to nearly a third of its weight. It is owing to this 

 circumstance that palm oil is so remarkably easily saponifiable. 

 Indeed, a very tolerable soap may be made from it by boiling 

 it for a short time with the alkaline carbonates. Soap made 

 from palm oil and soda is of a firm consistence, has an aromatic 

 odour, and forms an excellent and agreeable detergent. The 



« Communicated by the Author. 



