SPERMACETI, WAX, ETC.] 



UNDULATORY FORCES. LIGHT. 



97 



distilled over. The residue in the still, after this opera- 

 tion, looks like pitch, and may be employed for the 

 lame purposes. 



3rd. The cold and hot pressing of ike Fatty Acids. 

 These are effected in the same way as that described in 

 the saponification process. 



The other process to which we have referred namely, 

 that portion at the works of Jailon, Monier and Co. , at 

 La Villette, near Paris is a modification of De Milly'a 

 lime process. It consists in passing a rapid current of 

 sulphurous acid into the lime, vat while the rock mass is 

 forming ; and thus of increasing the amount of solid fat 

 by the conversion of the liquid oleic acid into solid elaidic. 

 In this way the very commonest tallow may be used, for 

 the sulphurous acid acts as a bleaching and deodorising 

 agent. The subsequent stages of the process are the 

 same as De Milly's. 



Lastly, it may be said that a large quantity of the 

 fatty acids which enter into the composition of ordinary 

 soap, is obtained at the grease-works of Mr. Banwens, 

 at Wakefield, from the waste lyes and suds of the woollen, 

 silk, and cotton manufactories. It is calculated that 

 about 11,000 tons of fat and oil are annually expended 

 in this country in the cleansing and preparing of the 

 fabrics in question. Hitherto all this had been allowed 

 to run to waste ; but the energies of Mr. Banwens having 

 been directed to the subject, it is hoped that the larger 

 portion of the fatty acids contained in the soap and oil 

 will be retrieved. These acids are worth about 15 a 

 ton ; and if only half of them are annually recoverable, 

 as much as 93,500 will be annually secured. The acids 

 are obtained by treating the boiling suds with a little oil 

 of vitriol or spirits of salt : the liquefied fats rise to the 

 surface, and, when cold, may be skimmed off, or otherwise 

 collected. The fats are then cast into blocks, and pressed 

 in the usual manner. 



In whatever way the solid fatty acids are obtained, 

 they always present the following characters : They have 

 the appearance of ivory, or of fine spermaceti : they are 

 inodorous, and do not communicate a greasy stain to 

 paper, or soil the fingers: they melt at a much higher 

 temperature than the original fats: indeed, the melting- 

 point of pure stearic acid is 167 ; that of bassic acid, 

 which comes from the palm fats of India, is 159 ; that 

 of palmitic and margaric acids, 140 ; and that of cocinic 

 acid, from cocoa-nut oil, is 110. It rarely happens, 

 however, that these acids are obtained perfectly free from 

 a small proportion of liquid oleic acid ; and hence the 

 melting-points of the acids, as found in commerce, are a 

 little below the preceding. Stearic candles generally 

 melt at from 130 to 132 Fah. 



These candles, of six to the pound, burn at the rate of 

 from 140 to 144 grains per hour, and they give a light, as 

 nearly as possible, the same as sperm. If there be any 

 difference, the light of sperm is a little greater, and that 

 of stearic acid a little whiter. When calculated into an 

 average consumption of 120 grains per hour, it will be 

 found that, for equal weights consumed, 15 sperm caudles 

 will give the light of 16 '5 stearic. The advantages which 

 are attendant on the use of these candles are, the great 

 regularity of their burning, the dryneas of the cup below 

 the flame, the absence of all disposition to gutter, of not 

 softening in warm climates or hot rooms, and of not 

 soiling the fingers or clothes. It is very probable that 

 stearic candles will, ere long, supersede every other 

 description of houyie. 



The candles which are manufactured by Price and Co., 

 from the fatty acids obtained by the distillation of Chinese 

 vegetable tallow the product of Stittinyia tebifera are 

 even more infusible than the last ; for they require a 

 temperature of i:w to liquefy them. A patent has been 

 taken out by Messrs. Wilson, Gwynne, and Wttson, for 

 the manufacture of candles from this material. 



Spermaceti. This remarkable fat is chiefly obtained 

 from the great spermaceti whale, or great-headed cachalot 

 ' I'I'i/Kter m/ifroctphalus), which inhabits the Pacific 

 Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the China Sea. It is also 

 obtained from other species of cachalot, as the Physeter 

 celadon, trumpo, cylindrical, micropt, <tc. ; and from the 



vol.. 1. 



j two kinds of dolphin, viz., the Delphinus tursio and 

 edentulus. The spermaceti is found in all parts of the 

 bodies of these animals, mixed with the common fat or 

 blubber ; but the great receptacle for it, in the Physeter 

 macrocephalus, is a large excavation or case, situated in 

 the upper jaw, directly in front of the skull, and abovo 

 the nostrils. This receptacle is opened by the whalers 

 directly the animal is captured ; and the liquid contents, 

 consisting of oil, spermaceti, and cellular matter, are 

 dipped out. The dense mass of cellular tissue, called 

 junk, which lies immediately beneath the case, is also 

 removed ; and when boiled, it furnishes an inferior kiuj 

 of oil and spermaceti. The contents of the case are 

 carefully boiled, and then strained off into casks. In 

 this state it goes by the name of "head-matter;" and is 

 composed of spermaceti and sperm oil. After standing 

 for some time at a temperature of from 40 to 50 Fall. , 

 the spermaceti solidifies as a dirty-brown crystalline mass. 

 This is separated from the oil by straining through bags, 

 and pressing. The crude spermaceti is melted by the aid 

 of steam, and then allowed to cool very slowly ; after 

 which it is ground to powder, placed in bags, and sub- 

 jected to enormous pressure a pressure of six hundred 

 tons. In this way the residue of the oil is squeezed out 

 of it, and the spermaceti which remains is nearly white. 

 To purify it still more, it is melted in a large iron vessel, 

 and boiled for some time with a solution of caustic soda. 

 This has the effect of converting all the oil with which it 

 is contaminated into a soap, which dissolves in the water, 

 while the spermaceti floats to the surface. It is now run 

 into tin pans and allowed to cool. The mass so obtain, -1 

 is crushed to a powder a second time, and then pressed 

 as before ; the operation being conducted in an atmo- 

 sphere heated by steam. Finally, the spermaceti is boiled 

 with a strong solution of potash ; and when it is perfectly 

 limpid and colourless like water, it is cast into square 

 blocks. 



In this condition it is named cetine: it is a white 

 crystalline solid, with a pearly lustre and greasy feel. 

 It melts at a temperature of 120 ; and it consists of a 

 fatty acid (cetylic), which fuses at 131, and a species of 

 alcohol, named etkal, wluch melts at 118. Impure 

 kinds of spermaceti liquefy at from 112 to 160. 



Spermaceti ctiiullct contain about three per cent, of 

 wax, which is added to break the grain, or to prevent 

 crystallisation. A sperm candle of six to the pound 

 burns with great regularity if it be properly made ; but 

 those in commerce at the present time, are but poor 

 examples of what such candles should be, for they range 

 in combustion between 120 and 146 grains per hour. 

 A spermaceti candle of six to the pound, burning at the 

 rate of 120 grains per hour, is generally taken as the 

 standard of comparison for all other illuminating agents, 

 for the light emitted is clear, white, and very brilliant. 

 The candles which are sold under the name of trans- 

 parent wax, are mostly sperm candles, coloured with a 

 little gamboge. . 



Wax is obtained from several sources : it is secreted 

 between the abdominal scales of the honey-bee, and 

 formed by that insect into honey-comb. The insect wax 

 of China is produced by the male of the Coccus cerifentt, 

 which deposits it on the trees on which it feeds, especially 

 the lihns luccedaneum. A soft, tenacious, mahogany- 

 coloured wax is obtained in great quantity at the Brazils, 

 and is the product of a black bee which hives iimliT 

 ground. Vegetable wax is procured from the berries > >f 

 several myrtles (the Myrica cerifera, auyustifolia, ln/i- 

 folia, Ac. ), which grow abundantly at the Cape of Good 

 Hope, and in South America : besides which, there are 

 many trees, in Japan and St. Domingo, which yield 

 substances resembling wax ; these are the Croton sebi- 

 ferum, Celastnu cenferus, and Ceroxylon audicola. A 

 wax-like substance, named cerotine by Dumas, is also 

 obtained from the surface of many species of sugar-cane ; 

 and Mulder informs us, that the skins of apples, and the 

 berries of the mountain-ash, yield abundance of wax : in 



' fact, wax is a very common product of the vegetable 

 kingdom: it forms the bloom of fruits and of young 

 leaves, and it is a large constituent of the green and 



