1818.] their Combinations tvith Alkalies. 261 



was the production of the saponified fat and the sweet principle ; 

 no carbonic acid was produced, and the soaps formed contained 

 no acetic acid, or only slight traces of it. The saponified fats 

 had more tendency to crystallize in needles than the fats in their 

 natural state; they were soluble in all proportions in boiling 

 alcohol of the specific gravity of -821 . The solution, like that of 

 the saponified fat of the hog, contained both the margaric and 

 the oleic acids. They were less fusible than the fats from which 

 they were formed ; thus when human fat, after being saponified, 

 was melted, the thermometer became stationary at 95°, when 

 the fluid began to conceal ; in that of the sheep the thermometer 

 fell to 118-5° and rose to 122° ; in that of the ox it remained 

 stationary at 118-5° ; and in that of the jaguar at 96-5°. 



The saponified fat of the sheep and the ox had the same 

 degree of solubility in potash and soda as that of the hog. - 



100 parts of the fat of the sheep when 7 15 . 41 of tagh> 



saponified were dissolved by y l 



100 parts of the same were dissolved by 10-27 of soda. 



100 parts of the saponified fat of the ox? lfr4 g of tagh> 



were dissolved by 3 r 



100 parts of the same were dissolved by 10-24 of soda. 



100 parts of the saponified fat of the hog? 15 . Q4 of otas h 



were dissolved by 5 



100 parts of the same were dissolved by 10*29 of soda 



There is no carbonic acid necessarily produced in the saponi- 

 fication of the different kinds of fat ; for if we take two equal 

 quantities of the same solution of potash, and employ one of 

 them in the saponification of any species of fat, if we then 

 decompose the soap by the hydrochloric acid, we shall obtain a 

 quantity of carbonic acid equal to that which is contained in the 

 alkali that has not been employed in saponification. In order to 

 discover whether any acetic acid is produced in the saponifica- 

 tion of the fat of the human subject, of the sheep, and of the ox, 

 308-88 grs. (20 grammes) of each of these kinds of fat were sapo- 

 nified by pure potash ; the soap was decomposed by tartaric acid ; 

 the aqueous fluid was poured off" and distilled, the product was 

 then neutralized by barytic water, and this was evaporated to 

 dryness in order to obtain the saline residuum. The saline 

 residuum from human fat was too minute to be sensible to the 

 balance ; it was observed that the aqueous fluid which proceeded 

 from the decomposition of a soap prepared from the fat of the 

 kidneys, and likewise from a soap prepared with the fat from the 

 breast of a female, had a strongly marked odour of cheese, a 

 circumstance which indicates the presence of the aroma of butter 

 in these kinds of fat ; this principle is not, however, found in all 

 the specimens of human fat, that from the thigh being entirely 

 without it. 



