234 COMPOSITION AND PRODUCTS OF 



in this substance. Laurent and subsequently Bromeis have 

 shown that when oleic acid is oxidized by nitric acid suberic 

 acid is one of the most abundant products of this decompo- 

 sition. Now if spermaceti be oxidized by nitric acid, no trace 

 of suberic acid is furnished. 



Having then the support of both direct and indirect evi- 

 dence, I do not hesitate to affirm that spermaceti contains no 

 oleic acid. 



A question necessarily arising from this fact was, what was 

 the acid that Cheyreul had taken for oleic acid? To decide 

 this the following steps were taken : That portion of the acid 

 obtained from the lime-salt which had not been digested with 

 the oxide of lead was treated with carbonate of soda, this 

 forming a soda-salt, which, being dissolved in hot water, was 

 decomposed by tartaric acid. The fat acid thus liberated from 

 the soda was dissolved in warm alcohol, and upon allowing the 

 solution to cool a considerable quantity of the acid crystallized 

 out. The alcohol was poured off this crystalline deposit and 

 concentrated by evaporation, from which another portion of 

 the acid was allowed to crystallize. The alcohol was decanted 

 a second time, concentrated, and allowed to cool, and by re- 

 peating this four or five times, and at last evaporating all the 

 alcohol away, there was left a small quantity of a solid fatty 

 mass, which evidently still contained a considerable portion 

 of the same acid that had been crystallized from the alcoholic 

 solution. This acid had a melting point of 68° F., and consisted 

 of a mixture of a fluid and solid acid, but it was impossible to 

 obtain the former in a state of purity, and as consequently no 

 accurate examination of it could be made none was undertaken. 



The fluid acid that composed a portion of this mass was in 

 too inconsiderable a quantity to be considered an essential con- 

 stituent of spermaceti, particularly too as its presence can be 

 plausibly accounted for. Spermaceti as it exists in nature is 

 mixed with an oil, from which it is separated by pressure for 

 domestic use; now it is impossible that by simple pressure we 

 should be able to deprive the spermaceti completely of this oil; 

 but in Chevreul's analysis, as well as in mine, the spermaceti 

 of commerce was treated with hot alcohol of 0.820; still there 

 are many reasons for supposing that even by this means it is 

 impossible to extract all the oil, either from the fact that the 



