DISTILLATION OF SPERMACETI. 235 



oil is not more soluble in alcohol than the spermaceti, or that 

 the attraction that the oil and spermaceti have for one another 

 is too strong to be overcome by this means. Of the truth of this 

 latter supposition we have many similar examples, particularly 

 among the fats — a circumstance which renders their examina- 

 tion to the present day incomplete and imperfect. At some 

 future time my attention will be directed to the examination 

 of spermaceti prepared in a different manner from that pursued 

 in the present case, particularly with the object of ascertaining 

 whether spermaceti can not be so purified as that its saponifi- 

 cation will give rise to no fluid acid. 



Thus then, as regards the existence of a fluid acid in sperma- 

 ceti, all that can be said is that from the small quantity found, 

 and from other reasons just stated, there are strong grounds for 

 believing that it contains none, and that what has been found 

 is due to an impurity which is not removed by alcohol of 0.820. 



Solid acid resulting from the saponification of spermaceti.— I 

 come now to the second part of the examination, and by far 

 the most interesting — that of the solid acid obtained from the 

 saponification of spermaceti; for it is this and athal that are 

 the essential products resulting from the action of potash upon 

 spermaceti. 



The solid acid obtained in that part of the examination 

 which was directed to ascertaining the presence of a fluid acid 

 in spermaceti, and which was crystallized out of alcohol, was 

 found to be nearly in a state of purity. This was dissolved in 

 a mixture of equal parts of alcohol and ether, and allowed to 

 crystallize out. This operation was repeated two or three 

 times, and the crystalline deposit was then thrown upon a 

 filter and washed with cold alcohol of 0.820. The acid thus 

 obtained was pure, and possessed the following properties. 



It melted at 130° F., and upon cooling crystallized in small 

 needles, diverging from a number of centers, and when cool is 

 white; it resembles somewhat in appearance wax, it being 

 slightly translucent. It was dissolved in all proportions by 

 alcohol of 0.820 at 140° F., and upon cooling crystallized out 

 in small needles, which collected together in the form of moss 

 and sometimes in that of cauliflower ; from this the alcohol can 

 be poured so as to leave it almost perfectly dry. Out of ether 

 this acid crystallized with difficulty, owing to its excessive solu- 



