244 COMPOSITION AND PRODUCTS OF 



known to be composed of acids, more or less different in their 

 nature, in combination with glycerine; and when Chevreul 

 found athal, as in spermaceti, accompanied with an acid, he 

 considered athal as the base in this case, as well as making it 

 the great mark of distinction between spermaceti and the fats. 



Before going on to state the reasons why spermaceti should 

 not be considered a fat, it would be well to mention what I 

 suppose to be its proper position among the organic bodies. 

 Spermaceti ought properly to be classed with cholesterine and 

 athal, although approaching nearer to the fats than either of 

 these substances; and that both the athalic acid and athal 

 resulting from the saponification are simply products of de- 

 composition brought about by the action of an alkali, neither 

 of them existing ready formed. 



The first reason for so believing is based upon the extreme 

 difficulty with which spermaceti is saponified, it requiring to 

 be digested for a number of days in a strong solution of potash 

 or soda, or to be fused with the same alkalies at a temperature 

 of from 212° to 220° Fah. before this change takes place. Now, 

 from the experiments of Dumas and others, it will be seen 

 that the action of hydrated potash upon organic substances, 

 at a temperature more or less elevated, is to decompose them 

 by changing their molecular arrangement, and that among the 

 products formed acids play the most conspicuous part. The 

 atom of water in the alkali is often important in bringing 

 about this change by furnishing oxygen, hydrogen gas being 

 evolved; but the action of this water appears to be but a sec- 

 ondary thing, and its influence is only felt where oxygen does 

 not exist in sufficient quantity in the substance acted upon 

 by the alkali to furnish the products that are found with the 

 quantity that they exact. 



The above would appear to apply exactly to the case in 

 question. The spermaceti contains oxygen enough, which, 

 when combined with one half of its other elements, serves to 

 give rise to an acid. It is quite possible that the action of 

 the alkali, although not sufficiently strong at the temperature 

 of 212° Fah. to determine the elements of the spermaceti, to 

 appropriate the atom of water in the alkali to its complete 

 conversion into athalic acid (I say complete conversion into 

 athalic acid, for it will be shown that the action of an alkali 



