SPERMACETI, a whitish, unctuous, flaky sub-
stance, prepared from oil, but chiefly from the brains of
a species of whale called physeter macrocephalus.
The method of preparing spermaceti is kept a secret;
but the process is said to be this: The brains being
taken out of the animal, are then, as some say, melted
over a gentle fire, poured into moulds, and when cold
melted again; and this process is continued till they are
purified. Others say, that after being pressed and drain-
ed they are more thoroughly purified by steeping them
in a ley of alkaline salt and quicklime. The brains are
then washed, and cut into thin flakes or slices with
wooden knives. One fish is said to afford some tons of
brains. Good spermaceti is glossy and semitransparent,
in fine white flakes; soft and unctuous to the touch, yet
dry and friable; in taste, somewhat like butter, and of
a faint smell like that of tallow. Some adulterate it
with wax; but the deceit is discovered, either by the
smell of the wax or by the dulness of the colour. Some
also sell a preparation of oil taken from the tail of the
whale instead of that from the brain; but this kind
turns yellow as soon as exposed to the air. Indeed it
is apt in general to grow yellowish, and to contract a
rancid fishy smell if not carefully secured from the air.
The more perfectly it has been purified at first, the
less susceptible it is of these alterations; and after it
has been changed, it may be rendered white and sweet
again by steeping it afresh in a ley of alkaline salt and
quicklime. It melts in a small degree of heat, and
congeals again as it cools.
Spermaceti is of use in medicine. Quincy says it is
a noble remedy in the asthma, &c. though chiefly used
in bruises, inward hurts, and after delivery. For inter-
nal use, it may be dissolved in aqueous liquors into the
form of an emulsion, by trituration with almonds, the
yoke or white of an egg, and more elegantly by mucil-
ages; or made into a lochoch, by mixing two drams of
it with a suitable quantity of yolk of egg, then adding
half an ounce of fresh drawn oil of almonds, and an
ounce of balsamic syrup. Spermaceti is not capable of
being dissolved by caustic alkalies, and of forming soaps,
like other oily matters: but it is altogether soluble in
oils, and unites by liquefaction with wax and resins;
and in these forms is applied externally. But it is cer-
tain, its greatest property, and that which makes it so
much in vogue in many places, is its softening the skin.
Whence it comes to be used by the ladies in pastes,
washes, &c.
Spermaceti candles are of modern manufacture: they
are made smooth, with a fine gloss, free from rings and
scars, superior to the finest wax candles in colour and
lustre: and, when genuine, leave no spot or stain on the
finest silk, cloth, or linen.
A method has been lately proposed by Dr Smith
Gibbes of Bristol, to convert animal muscle into a sub-
stance much resembling spermaceti. The process is re-
markably simple: Nothing more is necessary than to
take a dead carcase and expose it to a stream of running
water: it will in a short time be changed to a mass of
fatty matter. To remove the offensive smell, a quantity
of nitrous acid may then be poured upon it, which unit-
ing with the fetid matter, the fat is separated in a pure
state. This acid indeed turns it yellow, but it may be
rendered white and pure by the action of the oxygenated
muriatic acid. Mr Gibbes brought about the same
change in a much shorter time. He took three lean
pieces of mutton and poured on them the three mineral
acids, and he perceived that at the end of three days
each was much altered; that in the nitrous acid was
much softened, and on separating the acid from it, he
found it to be exactly the same with that which he had
before got from the water; that in the muriatic acid
was not in that time so much altered; the vitriolic acid
had turned the other black.