UR PAeINE Sear CHO ANTS 
OF THE 
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. 
ARTICLE TI. 
ON ADIPOCIRE, AND ITS FORMATION. 
BY CHARLES M. WETHERILL, PH. D. M. D. 
THE formation of fat is interesting, both from a chemical and a physiological point of 
view. The relation of lignine starch and sugar to alcohol, afforded reasons for Liebig’s 
theory of the formation of fat in the body. Recent experiments by Liebig, Bopp, Guckel- 
berger, Keller and others, on the formation of the lower terms of the series of fatty acids by 
the oxidation and putrefaction of the blood-forming substances, rendered possible the 
formation of the higher members, from albumen, fibrin and caseine, by similar means,* for 
example, by a less intense degree of oxidation. It was thought that the study of adipocire, 
with a view to this question, would perhaps throw some light upon it; and upon reading 
all the articles within my reach, upon this body, from the time of its discovery by Four- 
croy, I find a considerable difference of opinion with regard to it. 
In 1785, Fourcroy examined a portion of a liver which had hung for ten years in the air 
in the laboratory of de la Salle; it was fatty, smooth, and unctuous to the touch. Potash 
ley dissolved a portion of the liver completely, forming a soap. Subsequently, when he 
had examined the fat of grave yards, and spermaceti, he proposed to name these three fats, 
* Liebig thinks this probable. Ch. Briefe. 
VOL, x1.—l 
