Spermaceti Oil

It is composed of wax esters with a small proportion of triglycerides an ester of an unsaturated fatty acid and a branched chain fatty alcohol.

Spermaceti oil. Sperm oil has a different composition from common whale oil obtained from rendered blubber. Unfortunately without enough research scientists cannot come to a concise conclusion on the use of spermaceti in the sperm whales head. Find patient medical information for spermaceti on webmd including its uses side effects and safety interactions pictures warnings and user ratings. It is a natural antioxidant and heat transfer agent.

The spermaceti organ in sperm whales is shaped like an elongated barrel and sits on top of the whale s melon. In search of the giants of the sea that the hubble space telescope is wheeling around the earth on spermaceti oil obtained from sperm whales seeing six billion years into the past hoare cited two sources. In the late 18th and. Spermaceti wax is extracted from sperm oil by crystallisation at 6 c 43 f when treated by pressure and a chemical solution of caustic alkali.

Formerly used as a superior lighting oil and later as a lubricant it was little used in the modern period apart from in certain toiletries and pharmaceuticals although in 1950 advances in oil chemistry allowed it to. The fluid contained in the spermaceti organ of the whale s head was removed to obtain crude sperm oil. In 2010 philip hoare wrote in the whale. It is a clear yellowish liquid with a very faint odor.

The substance was named in the mistaken belief that it was the coagulated semen of the whale. Later it was used for industrial lubricants. The spermaceti oil found in the sperm whales head can greatly enhance the whale s ability to pin point prey such as giant squid and octopus which can be found at extreme depths in pitch black water. Lowering the temperature by only few degrees induces the liquid to solid transition of the oil.

Spermaceti was used chiefly in ointments cosmetic creams fine wax candles pomades and textile finishing. Save spermaceti oil to get e mail alerts and updates on your ebay feed. Sperm oil is a waxy liquid obtained from sperm whales. Although it is traditionally called an oil it is technically a liquid wax.

In sperm oil from the head cavity spermaceti organ and blubber of the sperm whale. Historically the spermaceti oil found within it was used in a variety of products including lamp oils candles and lubricants providing the economic basis for the sperm whaling industry. Due to this unique lipid composition spermaceti oil is liquid at the normal resting body temperature of the whale i e 37 c as a marine mammal.