VEGETABLE OIM, ETC.] 



UNDULATORY FORCES. LIGHT. 



boiling water, and, finally, to pressure. The oil has a 

 buttery consistence, is of an orange-yellow colour, has a 

 sweetish taste, and an agreeable odour. When new, it 

 melts at a temperature of 81 Fah. ; but, if old, it requires 

 a heat of from 90 to 96 to liquefy it. It consists of 

 about 69 of oleine, and 31 of a solid fat named palmitine. 

 The crude oil is readily bleached by exposing it to light 

 and air, or to chlorine gas, and it may also be purified 

 in the same way as common tallow. Until it is deprived 

 of its great excess of oleine, it is not fit for the manufac- 

 ture of candles. 



Galnm or Ghea butttr is another fat oil, that closely 

 resembles palm oil : indeed, it is very often mistaken for 

 it. It comes from the western parts of Africa, and is 

 the produce of a palm, the Aficadenia, or Bassia Parkii 

 a tree that is very similar in its appearance to the 

 Bassia latifulia, aud the other species of Bassia that are 

 indigenous to the province of Hindostan. According to 

 Park, the tree is very abundant in Bambara ; and the oil 

 is obtained from the fruit in the same way as palm oil. 

 Ghea is of a greyish-white colour; it melts at a tem- 

 perature of 97 Fah., and consists of about 68 of oleine, 

 and 32 of a solid fat like palmitine. 



Cocoa-wit oil or fat is extracted from the kernel of 

 the common cocoa-nut, which is the fruit of a palm named 

 Coco* nucifera. The oil is semi-fluid, or rather buttery, 

 in its consistence. It melts at a temperature of 68, and 

 contains two or more fatty principles, one of which, 

 namely, the oleine, amounts to about 71 per cent., and 

 the other, cocine or cocinine, to 29. The oil is not fit 

 for the manufacture of candles until it has been sub- 

 mitted to cold and pressure. We import this oil from 

 several parts of India, from the islands of the Pacific, 

 from Australia, and from Borneo. 



Several kind." of vegetable faU or butters, well suited 

 for the manufacture of candles, have at various times 

 been sent to this country ; but the demand for them has 

 not been sufficiently great to encourage a trade. Among 

 these may be mentioned the solid fata obtained from 

 three species of Bassia, indigenous to India. These are, 

 Upa oil, or Eloopei unnay, which is expressed from the 

 seeds of the Illupie tree, or Bassia l.ingifolia a tree 

 that is very abundant in the Madras Presidency, and in 

 the southern parts of Hindostan. This oil is white, and 

 it requires a temperature of from 70=> to 80 to melt it. 

 Similar fats are obtained from the seeds of Bassia lati- 

 folia, of the Bengal Presidency, and Bassia butyracea, of 

 the province of Dotee the former is named Epie, or 

 Mahowa teed oil, and the Litter Phovlwa, or vegetable 

 butter. A solid oil, of a pale greenish colour, is obtained 

 from the tallow-tree of Java probably a species of 

 Bassia, which is common not only to Java, but also to 

 the western countries of the Archipelago. In fact, it 

 appears, from the observations of Mr. Lowe, that several 

 kinds of solid oil are obtained in the islands of the Archi- 

 pelago from different species of Dipterocarpui. These 

 oils are hard, yellowish-green, and brittle, and they 

 melt at about 90 Fah. An oil named Piney tallow is 

 expressed from the fruit of the panoe tree (Valeria 

 iiflica), which grows abundantly in Malabar and Canara. 

 The oil is white, solid, and fusible at 97; it makes 

 excellent candles, which do not give out any unpleasant 

 smell in burning. Cocum oil, or Kokum butter, is ob- 

 tained from the seeds of a kind of mangosteen (Oartinin 

 purpurea), which is common in several parts of the 

 peninsula. It is of a pale greenish-yellow colour, and it 

 melts at 95. Kali-ziri, or Khatzum butter, another 

 variety of fat oil, is in all probability the produce of the 

 seeds of Vernonia anthelmintica, or of Salvadora Pertica, 

 both of which are common in Guzerat and Coucan 

 Ghats ; it is a bright green oil, of the same fusibility as 

 the last-named. The seeds of Carapa Guian*nsi, of 

 Guiana and Acagie, yield a semi-solid oil, named Crab 

 or Carapa oil ; and, lastly a solid fat called Neem oil, 

 or Vaypum unnay, is obtained from the ripe fruit of the 

 margosa tree (Melia azadirachta). All these fats might, 

 if necessary, be largely supplied to this country, and 

 thus be the means of keeping in check the high price of 

 tallow, or even of taking its place altogether. 



Stearine, Margarine, Palmitine, Cocine, or Coeinine, 

 ic. , are the names applied to the solid fats contained in 

 tallow, suet, lard, palm oil, ghea butter, cocoa-nut oil, 

 <fec. It has been already stated, that none of the raw 

 fats, except tallow, can be applied at once to the manu- 

 facture of candles ; but they must be subjected to cer- 

 tain processes in order to remove the oleine or liquid 

 constituent, and so obtain the fats in a more solid state. 



As far back as the year 1799, Mr. William Bolt took 

 out a patent in this country for the manufacture of 

 candles from compressed tallow. This, perhaps, was the 

 first attempt ever made to improve the quality of candles 

 by fabricating them from the solid constituents of fats 

 and oils. About twenty years after this, the researches 

 of Chevreul gave an impetus to the discovery of Bolt, 

 by showing that all the fats consisted of at least two 

 proximate elements namely, an oily or liquid portion, 

 which he named oleine, aud one or more solid consti- 

 tuents, which he called stearine, margarine, itc. Taking 

 advantage of this fact, the caudle-makers soon adopted a 

 process whereby they were enabled to separate the one 

 fat from the other, and thus to procure a material which 

 would not melt at so low a temperature as ordinary 

 tallow. To effect this, the tallow, palm oil, or cocoa-nut 

 oil is melted, and then allowed to cool as slowly as 

 possible, care being taken that it is constantly agitated 

 during the whole time that it is solidifying. When the 

 mass has acquired a pasty consistence, it is transferred 

 to horsehair or linen bags, and submitted to great 

 pressure. In this manner the oleine is squeezed out, 

 and the solid fats are left in nearly a pure state By 

 repeating the process of liquefaction aud pressure, the 

 stearine, margarine, palmitine, and cocinine are obtained 

 still purer. In this condition they are perfectly white, 

 hard, and nearly free from greasiness, and they melt at 

 a much higher temperature than the original fats : for 

 example, common tallow melts at from 99 to 104 of 

 Fah. ; whereas stearine, which is obtained from it, melts 

 at 144, and margarine at 117. Palm oil is fluid at 

 from 90 to 96; but palmitine requires a heat of 124 to 

 melt it ; and lastly, cocoa-nut oil is liquid at 68, while 

 it* solid constituent, cocine or cocinine, is fusible at 110. 

 These fats are employed in the manufacture of composi- 

 tion and Palmer 1 ! candles. The former bum at the rate 

 of from 140 to 155 grains per hour, and they furnish a 

 light which is scarcely inferior to sperm ; the latter liavy 

 an average consumption of about 160 grains per hou. 

 for each wick, aud the light emitted is in the same ratio 

 as the formiT. 



Stfaric, Slargaric, Palmitic,Cocinic, and other solid Fatty 

 Acids, are obtained from the oils, etc., already named; 

 indeed, the solid fats which have just been described 

 contain in each case a still more solid compound, which 

 bears the name of the fat from which it is derived. 

 These adds were discovered by Chevreul in the year 

 1823 ; and, two years afterwards, he thought them of so 

 much importance, that he allied himself with Gay Lus- 

 sac, and took out patents in this country and in France 

 for their manufacture. But, notwithstanding that they 

 furnished candles of the very best description, aud have 

 since been made the basis of most profitable speculation, 

 they did not realise any advantage whatever to the 

 original patentees ; in fact, the processes of Chevreul 

 and Gay Lussac were so complicated and expensive, 

 that they could not be followed out with profit or ad- 

 vantage: in addition to which, it was found that the 

 candles manufactured from the fatty acids would not 

 burn with an ordinary wick ; and hence the necessity 

 for still further improvement in this direction. Cam- 

 baceres, however, overcame this difficulty by inventing 

 thu present description of plaited wick ; and this was 

 afterwards improved by De Milly, who suggested the 

 use of boracic acid and the salts of ammonia for impreg- 

 nating the fibres of the cotton. Another obstacle to the 

 use of the fatty acids was the pertinacity with which 

 they crystallised ; thus rendering the candles brittle, 

 unsightly, and irregular of combustion. An attempt 

 was made to remedy this by introducing fine powders 

 into the melted acids, no as to break their grain; but 



