Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Dec,  1884. 
Eidachon  Oil, 
631 
parts,  sulphuric  acid,  sp.  gr.  1*84,  7  parts,  nitric  acid,  sp.  gr.  1'37,  10 
parts,  eulachon  oil  produces  at  once  a  pink  color,  fading  to  a  shade 
of  brown;  at  the  end  of  15  hours  the  color  of  the  solution  was  of  a 
pale  reddish  brown. 
Cod-liver  oil  shows  a  similar  initial  coloration  under  this  test,  but 
fades  to  straw  color  or  amber,  if  the  oil  is  pure. 
Sulphuric  acid  does  not  produce  in  eulachon  oil  the  rich  purple  color 
which  it  gives  cod-liver,  and  other  oils  containing  biliary  constituents. 
It  produces  instead  a  deep  brown,  verging  as  much  toward  yellow  as 
toward  red. 
With  the  elaidin  test  eulachon  oil  solidifies  rapidly;  after  15  hours 
a  small  portion  only  of  the  oil  remains  unsolidified — color  of  the  mix- 
ture, brown.  In  the  case  of  cod-liver  oil  the  action  is  much  less  rapid  ; 
at  the  end  of  15  hours  there  remains  still  a  large  proportion  of  fluid, 
which  is  of  a  very  dark  color — resembling  molasses. 
The  oil  leaves  only  a  trace  of  ash  when  ignited,  and  the  constituents 
of  this  probably  are  unimportant.  The  oil  probably  contains,  like 
cod-liver  oil,  a  trace  of  iodine — the  quantity  of  this  element  present 
in  the  latter  is  greatly  over-stated  in  the  books.  It  is  altogether  too 
minute  to  be  regarded  as  of  any  influence,  even  if  the  iodine  is  present 
as  is  believed  by  some,  in  the  form  of  an  organic  compound.  All  fish 
oils  have  been  found  to  contain  iodine,  and  in  proportions  not  much 
smaller  than  the  cod-liver  oil  itself. 
A  portion  of  the  eulachon  oil  was  saponified  and  the  soap  decom- 
posed. The  fatty  acids  thus  obtained  amounted  to  95*85  per  cent,  of 
the  oil.  As  appeared  subsequently,  however,  this  is  not  all  fatty 
acid. 
The  oil  was  found  to  contain  about  20  per  cent,  of  palmitic  and 
stearic  acids,  60  per  cent,  of  oleic  acid,  and  13  per  cent,  of  an  unsa- 
ponifiable  substance,  which  is  the  most  peculiar  and  interesting  thing 
about  it.  This  substance  is  of  an  oily  consistency  at  ordinary  tempera- 
ture in  summer,  has  much  lower  specific  gravity  than  oleic  acid,  or  any 
other  constituent  of  ordinary  fats,  sp.  gr.  '865  to  *872  at  59°F.,  and 
seems  to  resemble  the  unsaponifiable  constituent  of  sperm  oil. 
This  interesting  substance  I  hope  hereafter  to  make  the  subject  of 
further  investigation  to  determine  its  chemical  composition,  and  its 
behavior  towards  reagents.  At  present  it  is  enough  to  call  attention  to 
its  existence  as  a  considerable  constituent  in  this  oil,  and  to  suggest  the 
probability  that  it  may  give  to  the  oil  properties  quite  distinct  from 
