164 PALM OIL. 



transparency ; and, at 65°, it was become so firm, that the ther- 

 mometer could with difficulty be removed from it. Hence it 

 appears that palm-oil, by the action of nitric acid, is rendered 

 less fusible, and that its fusibility is more nearly confined to a 

 precise limit than in its natural state. Its solubility in alcohol 

 appeared, however, to be rather increased ; 100 grs. of alcohol 

 dissolving very nearly 3 of the oil, two thirds of which were 

 precipitated as the fluid cooled. The tendency of the palm- 

 oil to unite with pot-ash was also considerably increased by 

 the action of nitric acid. Equal quantities of the oxidated oil, 

 and of the palm-oil in its natural state, were boiled with twice 

 their weight of liquid pot-ash, nearly the whole of the oxidated 

 oil was united to the pot-ash, and formed with it a thick sapo- 

 naceous substance, while a considerable portion of the common 

 palm-oil remained floating at the surface. 



Effects of nitric Nearly the same effect was produced upon the palm-oil, by 

 scicl on Dslm* i i ' / 



oil contanued. being boiled with nitric acid, by being digested in it for some 

 weeks, at the temperature of the atmosphere, or by being pre- 

 cipitated, by the nitric acid, from its union with pot-ash. When 

 the oil was digested without heat in the acid, its colour was 

 first changed to a dirty green, next to a grey, and, lastly, was 

 rendered nearly white. That, in these different processes, the 

 oil was not united to the entire acid, but that a portion of the 

 acid was decomposed, and its oxygene absorbed, I judged, 

 because I found that the oil, after it had undergone the change, 

 was not in any respect altered by being kept for some time in 

 boiling water, nor did it impart to the water the least degree 

 of acidity. This opinion was farther confirmed, by its union 

 with pot-ash; if the oil had contained nitric acid, the addition 

 of the pot-ash, instead of forming soap, would have reduced 

 the oil to its original state. 

 Comparison After having ascertained some of the leading properties of 



with other oils palm-oil, it appeared an interesting object of inquiry, to exa- 

 mine the relation that it bears to other substances, both of 

 animal and vegetable origin, to which it exhibits some points 

 of resemblance. I particularly refer^ to the expressed oil of 

 vegetables, butter, tallow, spermaceti, the wax of the my- 

 rica cerifera, bees- wax, and the resin. The properties to 

 ■which 1 particularly directed my attention, were the fusibility 

 of the substances, and their habitudes with alcohol. The melting 



points 



