DISTILLATION OF SPERMACETI. 241 



If the products afforded by the distillation be digested with 

 water, and this water be examined, it will be found not to 

 possess the slightest acid reaction ; a fact of considerable im- 

 portance, and one that has been mentioned in a former part 

 of this article as an evidence of the non-existence of oleic acid 

 in spermaceti; oleic acid or any of its compounds always fur- 

 nishing by distillation sebacic acid, an acid soluble in water. 

 The water, moreover, will be found to have taken up nothing, 

 it having simply acquired a slight odor resembling that of the 

 mass with which it was digested. 



The steps taken to ascertain the nature of the products were 

 the following. The mass obtained from the distillation was 

 digested with a solution of potash for an hour or two, and to 

 this, placed in a convenient vessel, was added ether, and the 

 two agitated together, and then allowed to repose. The ether 

 arose to the surface, containing in solution certain products. 

 This was drawn off and a fresh portion added, and the agita- 

 tion repeated. This operation was carried on until nothing 

 remained that was soluble in this menstruum. 



The ether was evaporated and a residue obtained consisting" 

 of an oily fluid holding spermaceti in solution. The separation 

 of the oil from the spermaceti was attended with considerable 

 difficulty; but by the aid of pressure at a very low tempera- 

 ture, and careful distillation, a small quantity of the oil was 

 obtained tolerably pure. 



0.222 gramme of the oil, burnt with the bioxide of copper, 

 gave 0.688 gramme carbonic acid and 0.282 water, and this in 

 one hundred parts gives 



Carbon 85.04 



Hydrogen 14.12 



99.16 



These numbers show it to be a carbureted hydrogen, com- 

 posed of equal equivalents of carbon and hydrogen; and this, 

 together with such of its physical properties as I had been 

 able to examine, led me into the belief that it was ceten, the 

 carbureted hydrogen already spoken of as the supposed base 

 of athal. Considering this oil to be ceten, its composition is 

 represented by 



