THE TECHNOLOGIST. [Dec. 1, 18C4. 



208 ON CHEMISTRY APPLIED TO THE ARTS. 



Spermaceti. — This valuable substance is found in large quantities in 

 the bony receptacles of the head of the white whale of the South Seas, 

 and as it is there mixed with a fluid substance called sperm oil, these 

 are separated by means of filtration. The solid mass which is thereby 

 left in the lineu bags is first pressed cold, and then between heated 

 plates (hot-pressed). It is then physicked or heated in a boiler with a 

 solution of caustic potash of sp. gr. 1-45, which dissolves a small amount 

 of oily matter, still adhering to the spermaceti, and this, after being 

 well washed, is run into moulds to cool. The manufacture of spermaceti 

 candles requires great care and practical experience. The only fact I 

 shall mention is, that about 3 per cent, of wax is added to spermaceti to 

 prevent the mass being too crystalline or brittle. M. Chevreul, who 

 chemically examined pure spermaceti, or cetine, at the beginning of 

 this century, succeeded in unfolding it into an acid, which he called 

 ethalic acid, veiy similar to palmitic, and into a neutral substance called 

 ethal, the composition of which he prognosticated would be found to 

 contain pure alcohol. This, I am pleased to say, has proved to be the 

 case, for its composition can be considered as represented by — 



C 32 H 33 3 + HO. 



Mr. Heintz has recently published a very elaborate paper on the com- 

 position of this substance, and states that spermaceti contains the fol- 

 lowing components : — 



Ethal or oxide of 

 cetyle. 



Stearopharate C 38 H a5 3 ... C 32 H 33 3 



Margarate C 34 H 33 3 ... „ 



Palnritate C 32 H 3l 3 ... „ 



Cetate C 30 H 29 3 ... „ 



Myristate C 28 H„ r 3 ... „ 



Create C 20 h], 3 ... 



It appears to me that several of these products do not exist ready formed 

 in spermaceti, but are the results of chemical reactions. 



Bees' Wax. — Bees either gather wax from the flowers on which they 

 alight, or are capable of producing it direct from saccharine matters. 

 The wax as it is obtained from the honeycomb being coloured, it is 

 necessary to bleach it for most of the applications which wax receives. 

 The old process (still followed in many parts of Europe) consists in 

 melting wax in water and allowing it to run into a second vessel so as 

 to separate it as completely as possible from its impurities. When cooled 

 to nearly its melting point, it is allowed to fall on rollers which revolve 

 in cold water, by which means thin ribbons of wax are obtained, these 

 are then placed on meadows to bleach under the influence of the atmos- 

 phere. The above operations are repeated until the wax is perfectly 

 bleached. This plan is so tedious and expensive that several chemical 

 processes have been proposed. Mr. Casseraud's is to pass steam through 



