116 OILY FATTY ACIDS. 



than allow ourselves to be led astray by mere fancy. Let us rather 

 wait for further facts to serve as substrata on which to establish a 

 strictly logical hypothesis. Generally speaking, the function of 

 oleic acid in the animal body coincides with that of the other fatty 

 acids : but we shall return to this subject in a future part of this 

 volume. 



Origin. In our remarks on the fats, we shall consider the 

 question whether the animal body possesses the power of forming 

 margaric and oleic acids as well as stearic acid. 



DOEGLIC ACID. CooHocOo. HO. 



38^35^3' 



This acid, which was discovered by Scharling * in the train oil 

 of Ealosna rostrata, is obtained from the lead-salt which is taken up 

 by ether, precisely in accordance with Gottlieb's method of purify- 

 ing oleic acid. At+ 16 it is perfectly fluid, but solidifies at a few 

 degrees above : it is yellow and reddens litmus ; on dry distillation 

 it yields no sebacic acid. This acid is, moreover, not combined 

 with oxide of lipyl in the Doegling train-oil, (at least it yields no 

 glycerine on saponification,) but probably with doeglic oxide, 

 C 24 H 25 O, a body similar to the ether-like haloid bases, whose 

 existence and composition Scharling, however, only infers from the 

 analysis of the unsaponified Doegling train-oil and the absence of 

 glycerine. 



NON-NITROGENOUS RESINOUS ACIDS. 



LlTHOFELLIC AciD. C 40 H 36 7 .HO. 



Chemical Relations. 



Properties. This acid crystallises in small, six-sided, right 

 prisms, is readily pulverisable, fuses at 205, and solidifies again 

 * Journ. f. pr. Ch. Bd. 43, S. 257-271. 



