noun
definition
A wax obtained from the head of sperm whales and used to make cosmetics etc.
Examples of spermaceti in a Sentence
Tallow candles as a substitute for whale-oil had been introduced, and the British market was closed by a duty of £r8 a ton on oil; a bounty offered by the Massachusetts legislature (£5 on white and £ 3 on yellow or brown spermaceti, and £2 on whale-oil per ton) was of slight assistance.
The cetyl ester is spermaceti, and the myricyl ester is largely present in beeswax.
The most important whale-oil is sperm or spermaceti oil, yielded by the sperm-whales.
With lowering of the temperature stearin, accompanied with a small proportion of spermaceti, separates from the oil, and a little under the freezingpoint nearly the whole of these constituents may be crystallized out.
Spermaceti wax had to be purchased in most households, but it could be blended with tallow as well, making the candles more economical.
About 1877, paraffin oil replaced the use of spermaceti oil.
This provided the colonists with a good deal of whale oil, from which was developed spermaceti wax.
Colonial candle history is credited with making the first standardized candles as a direct result of the discovery of spermaceti wax.
It resembles the sperm-whale in possessing a large store of oil in the upper part of the head, which yields spermaceti when refined; on this account, and also for the sake of the blubber, which supplies an oil almost indistinguishable from sperm-oil, this whale became the object of a regular chase in the latter half of the 19th century.
During the life of the whale the contents of these cavities are in a fluid condition, but no sooner is the "head matter" removed than the solid wax spermaceti separates in white crystalline flakes, leaving the oil a clear yellow fluid having a fishy odour.
The liquid waxes occur in the blubber of the sperm whale, and in the head cavities of those whales which yield spermaceti; this latter is obtained by cooling the crude oil obtained from the head cavities.
Spermaceti is a comparatively unimportant article of commerce; and of Chinese wax small quantities only are imported, as the home consumption takes up the bulk of the wax for the manufacture of candles, polishes and sizes.
Lanolin, linseed oil, wax, spermaceti, &c., also belong to this group. The paraffins, glycerin and vaseline, although not fats, have much the same effect when applied externally, but they are not nutritive.
These candles, made from what is called spermaceti wax, were harder and burned longer.
The oil contained in cells in this cavity, when refined, yields spermaceti, and the thick covering of blubber, which everywhere envelopes the body, produces the valuable sperm-oil of commerce.