277. Nomenclature.—The terms fat and oil are often used interchangeably and it is difficult in all cases to limit definitely their application. The consistence of the substance at usual room temperatures may be regarded as a point of demarcation. The term fat, in this sense, is applied to glycerids which are solid or semi solid, and oil to those which are quite or approximately liquid. A further classification is found in the origin of the glycerids, and this gives rise to the groups known as animal or vegetable fats and oils. In this manual, in harmony with the practices mentioned above, the term fat will be used to designate an animal or vegetable glycerid which is solid, and the term oil one which is liquid at common room temperature, viz., about 20°. There are few animal oils, and few vegetable fats when judged by this standard, and it therefore happens that the term oil is almost synonymous with vegetable glycerid and fat with a glycerid of animal origin. Nearly related to the fats and oils is the group of bodies known as resins and waxes. This group of bodies, however, can be distinguished from the fats and oils by chemical characteristics. The waxes are ethers formed by the union of fatty acids and alcohols of the ethane, and perhaps also of the ethylene series.[229] This chemical difference is not easily expressed and the terms themselves often add confusion to the meaning, as for instance, japan wax is composed mostly of fats, and sperm oil is essentially a wax.

278. Composition.—Fats and oils are composed chiefly of salts produced by the combination of the complex base glycerol with the fat acids. Certain glycerids, as the lecithins, contain also phosphorus in organic combinations, nitrogen, and possibly other inorganic constituents in organic forms. By the action of alkalies the glycerids are easily decomposed, the acid combining with the inorganic base and the glycerol becoming free. The salts thus produced form the soaps of commerce and the freed base, when collected and purified, is the glycerol of the trade.

When waxes are decomposed by alkalies, fatty acids and alcohols of the ethane series are produced.

The natural glycerids formed from glycerol, which is a trihydric (triatomic) alcohol, are found in the neutral state composed of three molecules of the acid, united with one of the base. If R represent the radicle of the fat acid the general formula for the chemical process by which the salt is produced is:

The resulting salts are called triglycerids or neutral glycyl ethers.[230] In natural animal and vegetable products, only the neutral salts are found, the mono- and diglycerids resulting from artificial synthesis. For this reason the prefix tri is not necessarily used in designating the natural glycerids, stearin, for instance, meaning the same as tristearin.

279. Principal Glycerids.—The most important glycerids which the analyst will find are the following:

Olein is the chief constituent of most oils; palmitin is found in palm oil and many other natural glycerids; stearin is a leading constituent of the fats of beeves and sheep, and butyrin is a characteristic constituent of butter, which owes its flavor largely to this glycerid and its nearly related concomitants.

280. Extraction of Oils and Fats.—Preparatory to a physical and chemical study of the fats and oils is their separation from the other organic matters with which they may be associated. In the case of animal tissues this is usually accomplished by the application of heat. The operation known as rendering may be conducted in many different ways. For laboratory purposes, the animal tissues holding the fat are placed in a convenient dish and a degree of heat applied which will liquify all the fat particles and free them from their investing membranes. The temperature employed should be as low as possible to secure the desired effect, but fats can be subjected for some time to a heat of a little more than 100°, without danger of decomposition. The direct heat of a lamp, however, should not be applied, since it is difficult to avoid too high a temperature at the point of contact of the flame and dish. The dry heat of an air-bath or rendering in an autoclave or by steam is preferable. The residual animal matter is subjected to pressure and the combined liquid fat freed from foreign matters by filtering through a jacket filter, which is kept at a temperature above the solidifying point of the contents.

On a large scale, as in rendering lard, the fat is separated by steam in closed vats which are strong enough to withstand the steam pressure employed. For analytical purposes it is best to extract the fat from animal tissues in the manner described, since the action of solvents is slow on fat particles enveloped in their containing membranes, and the fats, when extracted, are liable to be contaminated with extraneous matters. In dried and ground flesh meal, however, the fat may be extracted with the usual solvents. For the quantitive determination of fat in bones or flesh, the sample, as finely divided as possible, is thoroughly dried, and the fat separated from an aliquot finely powdered portion by extraction with chloroform, ether, or petroleum. The action of anhydrous ether on dried and powdered animal matters is apparently a continuous one. Dormeyer has shown that even after an extraction of several months additional matter goes into solution.[231] The fat in such cases can be determined by saponification with alcoholic potash and the estimation of the free fatty acids produced.

From vegetable substances, such as seeds, the fat is extracted either by pressure or by the use of solvents. For quantitive purposes, only solvents are employed. The dry, finely ground material is exhausted with anhydrous ether or petroleum spirit, in one of the convenient forms of apparatus already described (33->43). In very oily seeds great difficulty is experienced in securing a fine state of subdivision suited to complete extraction. In such cases it is advisable to conduct the process in two stages. In the first stage the material, in coarse powder, is exhausted as far as possible and the percentage of oil determined. The residue is then easily reduced to a fine powder, in an aliquot part of which the remaining oil is determined in the usual way.

In securing oils for physical and chemical examination both pressure and solution may be employed. The purest oils are secured by pressure at a low temperature. To obtain anything like a good extraction some sort of hydraulic pressure must be used. In this laboratory a press is employed in which the first pressure is secured by a screw and this is supplemented by hydraulic pressure in which glycerol is the transmitting liquid. The construction of the press is shown in the accompanying figure.

The whole press is warmed to nearly 100°. The hot finely ground oily material, enclosed in a cloth bag, is placed in the perforated cylinder and compressed as firmly as possible by turning with the hands the wheel shown at the top of the figure. The final pressure is secured by the screw shown at the bottom of the figure whereby a piston is driven into a cylinder containing glycerol. The degree of pressure obtained is equal to 300 atmospheres.

Even with the best laboratory hydraulic pressure not more than two-thirds of the total oil contents of oleaginous seeds can be secured and the process is totally inapplicable to securing the oil from tissues when it exists in quantities of less than ten per cent. To get practically all of the oil the best method is to extract with carefully distilled petroleum of low boiling point.

In the preparation of this reagent the petroleum ether of commerce, containing bodies boiling at temperatures of from 35° to 80°, is repeatedly fractioned by distillation until a product is obtained which boils at from 45° to 60°. The distillation of this material is conducted in a large flask heated with steam, furnished with a column containing a number of separatory funnels and connected with an appropriate condenser. The distillate is secured in a bottle packed with broken ice, as shown in Fig. 80. A thermometer suspended in the vapor of the petroleum serves to regulate the process. Too much care to avoid accidents cannot be exercised in this operation. Not only must steam be used in heating, but all flame and fire must be rigidly excluded from the room in which the distillation takes place, and the doors leading to other rooms where gas jets may be burning must be kept closed. In the beginning of the process, as much as possible of the petroleum boiling under 45° must be removed and rejected. The distillation is then continued until the temperature rises above 60°. The parts of the distillate saved between these temperatures are redistilled under similar conditions. Other portions of the petroleum, boiling at other temperatures, may be secured in the same way. The products may be in a measure freed of unpleasant odors by redistilling them from a mixture with lard. When used for quantitive purposes the petroleum ether must leave no residue when evaporated at 100°.

281. Freeing Extracted Oils from Petroleum.—The petroleum ether which is used for extracting oils tends to give them an unpleasant odor and flavor and its entire separation is a matter of some difficulty. The greater part of the solvent may be recovered as described in paragraph 43. Heating the extracted oil for several hours in thin layers, will remove the last traces of the solvent, but affords opportunity for oxidation, especially in the case of drying oils. An effective means of driving off the last traces of petroleum is to cause a current of dry carbon dioxid to pass through the sample contained in a cylinder and heated to a temperature of from 85° to 90°. The atmosphere of the inert gas will preserve the oil from oxidation and the sample will, as a rule, be found free of the petroleum odor after about ten hours treatment. Ethyl ether or chloroform may be used instead of petroleum, but these solvents act on other matters than the glycerids, and the extract is therefore liable to be contaminated with more impurities than when the petroleum ether is employed. Other solvents for fats are carbon tetrachlorid, carbon disulfid, and benzene. In general, petroleum ether should be employed in preference to other solvents, except in the case of castor oil, which is difficultly soluble in both petroleum and petroleum ethers.

282. Freeing Fats Of Moisture.—Any excess of water in glycerids will accumulate at the bottom of the liquid sample and can be removed by decanting the fat or separating it from the oil by any other convenient method. The warm oil may be almost entirely freed of any residual moisture by passing it through a dry filter paper in a jacket funnel kept at a high temperature. A section showing the construction of such a funnel with a folded filter paper in place, is shown in Fig. 81. The final drying, when great exactness is required, is accomplished in a vacuum, or in an atmosphere of inert gas, or in the cold in an exsiccator over sulfuric acid. In drying, it is well to expose the hot oil as little as possible to the action of the air. Wherever convenient, it should be protected from oxidation by some inert gas or a vacuum.

283. Sampling for Analysis.—It is a matter of some difficulty to secure a representative sample of a fat or oil for analytical purposes. The moisture in a fat is apt to be unevenly distributed, and the sampling is to be accomplished in a manner to secure the greatest possible uniformity. When the quantity of material is of considerable quantity a trier may be used which will remove a cylindrical or partly cylindrical mass from the whole length or depth. By securing several subsamples of this kind, and well mixing them, an average sample of the whole mass may be secured. Where the fat is found in different casks or packages samples should be drawn from each as described above. The subsamples are mixed together in weights corresponding to the different casks from which they are taken and the mass obtained by this mixture divided into three equal portions. Two of these parts are melted in a dish at a temperature not exceeding 60°, with constant stirring, and when fully liquid the third part is added. As a rule, the liquid fat retains enough heat to melt the added quantity. As soon as the mixed fats begin to grow pasty the mass is vigorously stirred to secure an intimate mixture of the water and other foreign bodies.[232]

In the case of butter fat the official chemists recommend that subsamples be drawn from all parts of the package until about 500 grams are secured. The portions thus drawn are to be perfectly melted in a closed vessel at as low a temperature as possible, and when melted the whole is to be shaken violently for some minutes till the mass is homogeneous, and sufficiently solidified to prevent the separation of the water and fat. A portion is then poured into the vessel from which it is to be weighed for analysis, and this should nearly or quite fill it. This sample should be kept in a cold place till analyzed.[233]

284. Estimation of Water.—In the official method for butter fat, which may be applied to all kinds, about two grams are dried to constant weight, at the temperature of boiling water, in a dish with flat bottom, having a surface of at least twenty square centimeters.

The use of clean dry sand or asbestos is admissible, and is necessary if a dish with round bottom be employed.

In the method recommended by Benedikt, about five grams of the sampled fat are placed in a small flask or beaker and dried at 100° with occasional stirring to bring the water to the surface.

According to the method of Sonnenschein, the sample is placed in a flask carrying a cork, with an arrangement of glass tubes, whereby a current of dry air may be aspirated over the fat during the process of drying. When the flask is properly fitted its weight is taken, the fat put in and reweighed to get the exact amount. The fat is better preserved by aspirating carbon dioxid instead of air.[234] The moisture may also be readily determined by drying on pumice stone, as described in paragraph 26. In this case it is well to conduct the desiccation in vacuum or in an inert atmosphere to prevent oxidation.

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF FATS.

285. Specific Gravity.—The specific gravity of an oil is readily determined by a westphal balance (53), by a spindle, by a sprengel tube, or more accurately by a pyknometer. The general principles governing the conduct of the work have already been given (48-59). The methods described for determining the density of sugar solutions are essentially the same as those used for oils, but it is to be remembered that oils and fats are lighter than water and the graduation of the sinkers for the hydrostatic balance, and the spindles for direct determination must be for such lighter liquids. The necessity of determining the density of a fat at a temperature above its melting point is manifest, and for this reason the use of the pyknometer at a high temperature (40° to 100°) is to be preferred to all the other processes, in the case of fats which are solid at temperatures below 25°.

When great delicacy of manipulation is desired, combined with rapid work, an analytical balance and westphal sinker may be used conjointly.[235] In this case it is well to have two or three sinkers graduated for 20°, 25°, and 40°, respectively. Nearly all fats, when melted and cooled to 40°, remain in a liquid state long enough to determine their density. The sinkers are provided with delicate thermometers, and the temperature, which at the beginning is a little above the degree at which the sinker is graduated, is allowed to fall to just that degree, when the equilibrium is secured in the usual manner. The sinker is conveniently made to displace just five grams of distilled water at the temperature of graduation, but it is evident that a round number is not necessary, but only convenient for calculation.

286. Expression of Specific Gravity.—Much confusion arises in the study of data of densities because the temperatures at which the determinations are made are not expressed. The absolute specific gravity would be a comparison of the weight of the object at 4°, with water at the same temperature. It is evident that such determinations are not always convenient, and for this reason the determinations of density are usually made at other temperatures.

In the case of a sinker, which at 35° displaces exactly five grams of water, the following statements may be made: One cubic centimeter of water at 35° weighs 0.994098 gram. The volume of a sinker displacing five grams of water at that temperature is therefore 5.0297 cubic centimeters. This volume of water at 4° weighs 5.0297 grams. In a given case the sinker placed in an oil at 35° is found to displace a weight equal to 4.5725 grams corresponding to a specific gravity of 35°/35° = 0.9145. From the foregoing data the following tabular summary is constructed:

287. Coefficient of Expansion of Oils.—Oils and fats of every kind have almost the same coefficient of expansion with increasing temperature. The coefficient of expansion is usually calculated by the formula

in which δ represents the coefficient of expansion, D₀ the density at the lowest temperature, D₀ʹ the density at the highest temperature, t the lowest, and tʹ the highest temperatures.

In the investigations made by Crampton it was shown that the formula would be more accurate, written as follows:[236]

The absolute densities can be calculated from the formula Δ = δ + K, in which Δ represents the coefficient of absolute expansion, δ the apparent coefficient of expansions observed in glass vessels, and K the cubical coefficient of expansion of the glass vessel. The mean absolute coefficient of expansion for fats and oils, for 1° as determined by experiment, is almost exactly 0.0008, and the apparent coefficient of expansion nearly 0.00077.[237]

288. Standard of Comparison.—In expressing specific gravities it is advisable to refer them always to water at 4°. The temperature at which the observation is made should also be given. Thus the expression of the specific gravity of lard, determined at different temperatures, is made as follows:

indicating the relative weights of the sample under examination at 15°.5, 40°, and 100°, respectively, to water at 4°.

289. Densities of Common Fats and Oils.—It is convenient to have at hand some of the data representing the densities of common fats and oils, and the following numbers are from results of determinations made in this laboratory:[238]

290. Melting Point.—The temperature at which fats become sensibly liquid is a physical characteristic of some importance. Unfortunately, the line of demarcation between the solid and liquid states of this class of bodies is not very clear. Few of them pass per saltum from one state to the other. In most cases there is a gradual transition, which, between its initial and final points, may show a difference of several degrees in temperature. It has been noted, further, that fats recently melted behave differently from those which have been solid for several hours. For this reason it is advisable, in preparing glycerids for the determination of their melting point, to fuse them the day before the examination is to be made. The temperature at which a glycerid passes from a liquid to a solid state is usually higher than that at which it resumes its solid form. If, however, the change of temperature could be made with extreme slowness, exposing the sample for many hours at near its critical temperature, these differences would be much less marked.

Many methods have been devised for determining the melting point of fats, and none has been found that is satisfactory in every respect. In some cases the moment at which fluidity occurs is assumed to be that one when the small sample loses its opalescence and becomes clear. In other cases the moment of fluidity is determined by the change of shape of the sample or by observing the common phenomena presented by a liquid body. In still other cases, the point at which the sample becomes fluid is determined by the automatic completion of an electric circuit, which is indicated by the ringing of a bell. This latter process has been found very misleading in our experience. Only a few of the proposed methods seem to demand attention here, and some of those, depending on the visible liquefaction of a small quantity of the fat or based on the physical property, possessed by all liquids when removed from external stress, of assuming a spheroidal state will be described. Other methods which may demand attention in any particular case may be found in the works cited.[239]

291. Determination in a Capillary Tube.—A capillary tube is dipped into the melted fat and when filled one end of the tube is sealed in the lamp and it is then put aside in a cool place for twenty-four hours. At the end of this time the tube is tied to the bulb of a delicate thermometer the length used or filled with fat being of the same length as the thermometer bulb. The thermometer and attached fat are placed in water, oil, or other transparent media, and gently warmed until the capillary column of fat becomes transparent. At this moment the thermometric reading is made and entered as the melting point of the fat. In comparative determinations the same length of time should be observed in heating, otherwise discordant results will be obtained. As in all other methods, the resulting members are comparative and not absolute points of fusion, and the data secured by two observers on the same sample may not agree, if different methods of preparing the fat and different rates of fusion have been employed.

Several modifications of the method just described are practiced, and perhaps with advantage in some cases. In one of these a small particle of the fat is solidified in a bulb blown on a small tube, as indicated in Fig. 83, tube a. The tube, in an upright position, is heated in a convenient bath until the particle of fat just begins to run assuming soon the position shown in tube b. This temperature is determined by a thermometer, whose bulb is kept in contact with the part of the observation tube containing the fat particle. The rise of temperature is continued until the fat collected at the bottom of the bulb is entirely transparent. This is called the point of complete fusion.[240]

Pohl covers the bulb of a thermometer with a thin film of fat, and the instrument is then fixed in a test tube, in such a way as not to touch the bottom, and the film of fat warmed by the air-bath until it fuses and collects in a droplet at the end of the thermometer bulb.[241]

Carr has modified this process by inserting the thermometer in a round flask in such a way that the bulb of the thermometer is as nearly as possible in the center. By this device the heating through the intervening air is more regular and more readily controlled.[242]

A particle of fat placed on the surface of clean mercury will melt when the mercury is raised to the proper temperature. Where larger quantities of the fat are employed, a small shot or pellet of mercury may be placed upon the surface and the whole warmed until the metal sinks. Of the above noted methods, the analyst will find some form of capillary tube or the use of a film of the fat on the bulb of a thermometer the most satisfactory.[243]

Hehner and Angell have modified the sinking point method by increasing the size of the sinker without a corresponding increase in weight. This is accomplished by blowing a small pear-shaped float, nearly one centimeter in diameter and about two long. The stem of the pear is drawn out and broken off, and while the bulb is still warm, the open end of the stem is held in mercury, and a small quantity of this substance, sufficient in amount to cause the float to sink slowly through a melted fat, is introduced into the bulb of the apparatus and the stem sealed. The whole bulb should displace about one cubic centimeter of liquid and weigh, after filling with mercury, about three and four-tenths grams. In conducting the experiment about thirty grams of the dry melted fat are placed in a large test tube and cooled by immersing the tube in water at a temperature of 15°. The tube containing the solidified fat is placed in a bath of cold water and the sinker is placed in the center of the surface of the fat. The bath is slowly heated until the float disappears. The temperature of the bath is read just as the bulb part of the float disappears. The method is recommended especially by the authors for butter fat investigations.[244]

298. Melting Point Determined by the Spheroidal State.—The method described by the author, depending on the assumption of the spheroidal state of a particle of liquid removed from all external stress, has been found quite satisfactory in this laboratory, and has been adopted by the official chemists.[245] In the preparation of the apparatus there are required:

(a) a piece of ice floating in distilled water that has been recently boiled, and (b) a mixture of alcohol and water of the same specific gravity as the fat to be examined. This is prepared by boiling distilled water and ninety-five per cent alcohol for a few minutes to remove the gases which they may hold in solution. While still hot, the water is poured into the test tube described below until it is nearly half full. The test tube is then nearly filled with the hot alcohol, which is carefully poured down the side of the inclined tube to avoid too much mixing. If the alcohol is not added until the water has cooled, the mixture will contain so many air bubbles as to be unfit for use. These bubbles will gather on the disk of fat as the temperature rises and finally force it to the top.

The apparatus for determining the melting point is shown in Fig. 84, and consists of (a) an accurate thermometer reading easily tenths of a degree; (b) a cathetometer for reading the thermometer (but this may be done with an eye-glass if held steadily and properly adjusted); (c) a thermometer; (d) a tall beaker, thirty-five centimeters high and ten in diameter; (e) a test tube thirty centimeters long and three and a half in diameter; (f) a stand for supporting the apparatus; (g) some method of stirring the water in the beaker (for example, a blowing bulb of rubber, and a bent glass tube extending to near the bottom of the beaker).

The disks of fat are prepared as follows: The melted and filtered fat is allowed to fall from a dropping tube from a height of about twenty cubic centimeters on a smooth piece of ice floating in recently boiled distilled water. The disks thus formed are from one to one and a half centimeters in diameter and weigh about 200 milligrams. By pressing the ice under the water the disks are made to float on the surface, whence they are easily removed with a steel spatula, which should be cooled in the ice water before using. They should be prepared a day or at least a few hours before using.

The test tube containing the alcohol and water is placed in a tall beaker, containing water and ice, until cold. The disk of fat is then dropped into the tube from the spatula, and at once sinks until it reaches a part of the tube where the density of the alcohol-water is exactly equivalent to its own. Here it remains at rest and free from the action of any force save that inherent in its own molecules.

The delicate thermometer is placed in the test tube and lowered until the bulb is just above the disk. In order to secure an even temperature in all parts of the alcohol mixture in the vicinity of the disk, the thermometer is gently moved from time to time in a circularly pendulous manner.

The disk having been placed in position, the water in the beaker is slowly heated, and kept constantly stirred by means of the blowing apparatus already described.

When the temperature of the alcohol-water mixture rises to about 6° below the melting point, the disk of fat begins to shrivel, and gradually rolls up into an irregular mass.

The thermometer is now lowered until the fat particle is even with the center of the bulb. The bulb of the thermometer should be small, so as to indicate only the temperature of the mixture near the fat. A gentle rotatory movement from time to time should be given to the thermometer bulb. The rise of temperature should be so regulated that the last 2° of increment require about ten minutes. The mass of fat gradually approaches the form of a sphere, and when it is sensibly so the reading of the thermometer is to be made. As soon as the temperature is taken the test tube is removed from the bath and placed again in the cooler. A second tube, containing alcohol and water, is at once placed in the bath. The test tube (ice water having been used as a cooler) is of low enough temperature to cool the bath sufficiently. After the first determination, which should be only a trial, the temperature of the bath should be so regulated as to reach a maximum of about 1°.5 above the melting point of the fat under examination.

The edge of the disk should not be allowed to touch the sides of the tube. This accident rarely happens, but in case it should take place, and the disk adhere to the sides of the tube, a new trial should be made.

Triplicate determinations should be made, and the second and third results should show a near agreement.

Example.—Melting point of sample of butter:

The fatty acids, being soluble in alcohol, cannot be treated as the ordinary glycerids. But even those glycerids which are slightly soluble in alcohol may be subjected to the above treatment without fear of experiencing any grave disturbance of the fusing points.

293. Solidifying Point.—The temperature at which a fat shows incipient solidification is usually lower than the point of fusion. The same difficulties are encountered in determining the temperature of solidification as are presented in observing the true melting point. The passage from a transparent liquid to an opaque solid is gradual, showing all the phases of turbidity from beginning opalescence to complete opacity. The best the analyst can do is to determine, as accurately as possible, the temperature at which the more solid glycerids of the mixture begin to form definite crystals. This point is affected to a marked degree by the element of time. A fat cooled just below its melting point will become solid after hours, or days, whereas it could be quickly cooled far below that temperature and still be limpid.

The methods of observation are the same for the glycerids and fatty acids, and the general process of determination is sufficiently set forth in the following description of the method as used in this laboratory.[246]

The melted fat or fat acid is placed in a test tube contained in a large bottle, which serves as a jacket to protect the tube from sudden or violent changes of temperature. The efficiency of the jacket may be increased by exhausting the air therefrom, as in the apparatus for determining the heat of bromination, hereafter described. A very delicate thermometer, graduated in tenths of a degree, and having a long bulb, is employed. By means of the reading glass, the reading can be made in twentieths of a degree. The arrangement of the apparatus is shown in Fig. 85. The test tube is nearly filled with the melted matter. The bottom of the jacket should be gently warmed to prevent a too rapid congelation in the bottom of the test tube containing the melted fat, and the tube is to be so placed as to leave an air space between it and the bottom of the bottle. The thermometer is suspended in such a manner as to have the bulb as nearly as possible in the center of the melted fat. The thermometer should be protected from air currents and should be kept perfectly still. In case the congealing point is lower than room temperature the jacket may be immersed in a cooling mixture, the temperature of which is only slightly below the freezing point of the fatty mass.

When crystals of fat begin to form, the descent of the mercury in the stem of the thermometer will become very slow and finally reach a minimum, which should be noted. As the crystallization extends inwards and approaches the bulb of the thermometer a point will be reached when the mercury begins to rise. At this time the partially crystallized mass should be vigorously stirred with the thermometer and again left at rest in as nearly, the original position as possible. By this operation the mercury will be made to rise and its maximum position should be noted as the true crystallizing point of the whole mass. In comparing different samples, it is important that the elements of time in which the first crystallization takes place should be kept, as nearly as possible, the same. A unit of one hour in cooling the mixture from a temperature just above its point of fusion until the incipient crystallization is noticed, is a convenient one for glycerids and for fat acids.

294. Determination of Refractive Power.—The property of refracting light is possessed by fats in different degrees and these differences are of great help in analytical work. The examination may be made by the simple refractometer of Abbe or Bertrand, or by the more elaborate apparatus of Pulfrich.

The comparative refractive power of fats can also be observed by means of the oleorefractometer of Amagat-Jean or the differential refractometer of Zune.[247]

For details of the construction of these apparatus, with a description of the optical principles on which they are based, the papers above cited may be consulted. In this laboratory the instruments which have been employed are three in number, viz., Abbe’s small refractometer, Pulfrich’s refractometer using yellow light, and the oleorefractometer of Amagat-Jean. A brief description of the methods of manipulating these instruments is all that can be attempted in this manual.

295. Refractive Index.—Refractive index is an expression employed to characterize the measurement of the degree of deflection caused in a ray of light in passing from one transparent medium into another. It is the quotient of the sine of the angle of the incident, divided by the sine of the angle of the refracted ray.

In the case of oils which remain liquid at room temperatures, the determinations can be made without the aid of any device to maintain liquidity. In the case of fat which becomes solid at ordinary room temperatures, the determination must either be made in a room artificially warmed or the apparatus must have some device, as in the later instruments of Abbe and Pulfrich, and in the apparatus of Amagat-Jean, whereby the sample under examination can be maintained in a transparent condition. In each case the accuracy of the apparatus should be tested by pure water, the refractive index of which at 18° is 1.333. The refractive index is either read directly on the scale as in Abbe’s instrument, or calculated from the angles measured as in Pulfrich’s apparatus.