Dr. Smith on the Composition of Spermaceti. 317 
no necessity for forming such a conclusion, as the circumstances 
attending the saponification of spermaceti and that of the fats dif- 
fer considerably, and if this difference be taken into considera- 
tion with what follows, there is no doubt that the justice of this 
explanation will be seen. 
Another reason for supposing that spermaceti does not consist 
of an acid and a base, or rather that athal does not exist in it 
ready formed is, that in the products afforded by the distillation 
of spermaceti, no trace of athal is to be found. This fact is one 
that should be considered of great value in establishing the na- 
ture of spermaceti, for there is no way of explaining the non- 
existence of athal among the products of the distillation, except 
by admitting that the substance distilled did not contain it, for 
athal is a body easily volatilized without decomposition. 
If, on the contrary, we remark the action of a strong solution 
of potash upon spermaceti at 100°, we find athal to be volatilized 
during the process, an evidence of the ease with which this sub- 
Stance is volatilized, as well as the necessity of an alkali for its 
formation. 
Let us compare with this the action of heat upon the fats, with 
reference to the change that the glycerine undergoes. We find 
that if a fat be distilled, a portion of the glycerine is decomposed, 
Siving rise to acroleine, (a mixture of acetic acid, &c.) and an- 
other portion passes over undecomposed ; this is also exactly what 
takes place if glycerine be distilled alone, whereas in the distil- 
lation of spermaceti, its athal (supposing it to contain it) under- 
goes complete decomposition, although athal, distilled by itself, 
does not undergo the least decomposition. 
This second reason then serves to increase the difference be- 
tween the nature of spermaceti and that of the fats, but Iam 
able to advance another fact stronger than either of the — 
augmenting this difference. 
Dumas and Stass have shown, that if athal be acted upon by 
potash at a temperature of from 410° to 428° Fah. an acid is the 
result, which acid they called athalic acid, the same that has 
been shown to result from the saponification of spermaceti, where 
the same alkali was employed, but at a much lower temperature. 
The action then of potash upon spermaceti, assisted by the proper 
temperatures, is to produce but one body, athalie acid, which 
circumstance would hardly take place were spermaceti composed 
