SPONTANEOUS  SAPONIFICATION  OF  OILS  IN  SEEDS 
351 
the  result  of  which  is  the  disunion  of  the  acids  and  glycerine.  I 
have  had  occasion  to  observe  a  similar  production  of  free  acid 
during  the  putrefaction  of  seeds  containing  much  fatty  matter." 
(Boussingault,  Economie  Rurale.) 
M.  Bernard  has  proved  that  the  pancreatic  sugar  rapidly  re- 
solves neutral  fatty  bodies  into  acids  and  glycerine.  (Comptes 
Rendus,  xxviii.  p.  249  and  283.)  M.  Berthelot,  in  his  thesis, 
says  a  few  words  on  the  acidification  of  neutral  fatty  matters, 
either  natural  or  artificial,  when  in  contact  with  the  air ;  he  at- 
tributes this  transformation  to  the  moisture  of  the  atmosphere,  and 
compares  it  with  the  decomposition  which  these  same  bodies  un- 
dergo in  closed  vessels,  by  the  action  of  water  at  a  high  tempera- 
ture. Lastly,  I  may  mention  that  seventeen  years  ago,  M.  Bou- 
det  and  myself  ascertained  that  the  palm  oil  of  commerce  is  a 
mixture  of  glycerine,  of  neutral  fatty  matter,  and  of  acid,  the 
proportion  of  the  latter  amounting  sometimes  to  four-fifths  of 
the  weight  of  the  oil. 
I  will  not  speak  here  of  the  slow  alteration  which  fatty  mat- 
ters undergo  in  the  air ;  this  phenomenon,  which  is  still  so  ob- 
scure, appears  also  to  have  only  a  very  distant  relation  with  true 
saponification  ;  it  is  accompanied  by  an  absorption  of  oxygen 
and  an  evolution  of  carbonic  acid,  which  do  not  take  place  in 
saponification.  The  facts  of  which  I  am  about  to  present  an 
analysis  indicate  a  very  distinct  resolution  of  fatty  bodies  into 
acids  and  glycerine,  without  the  intervention  of  air.  They  may 
be  stated  shortly  as  follows  : — 
When  oleaginous  seeds  are  crushed  so  as  to  break  up  their 
cells,  and  bring  the  substances  of  which  they  are  composed  into 
close  contact,  the  neutral  fatty  bodies  contained  in  these  seeds 
are  converted  into  fatty  acids  and  glycerine.  In  this  case  there 
is  something  analogous  to  what  takes  place  in  the  grape,  the 
apple,  and  many  other  fruits,  the  sugar  contained  in  which  is 
converted  into  alcohol  and  carbonic  acid  as  soon  as  the  cells 
which  separate  it  from  the  ferment  are  destroyed. 
Linseed,  seeds  of  rape,  mustard,  poppy,  groundnut,  sesame, 
camelina  and  chamomile,  nuts,  walnuts,  and  sweet  and  bitter 
almonds,  were  pounded  in  a  mortar ;  the  oil  taken  from  them 
immediately,  either  by  pressure  or  by  means  of  ether  or  ben~ 
zine,  did  not  contain  any  fatty  acids,  or  only  contained  traces 
