These discoveries of Geoffroy and Scheele formed the basis of Chevreul's researches by which he established the constitution of oils and the true nature of soap. In the article Oils it is pointed out that all fatty oils and fats are mixtures of glycerides, that is, of bodies related to the alcohol glycerin C 3H5(OH)3 i and some fatty acid such as palmitic acid (C 16 H 31 0 2)H.
The so-called "stearin" of candles is a mixture of stearic and palmitic acids.
Meyerdahl obtained 4% of palmitic acid, 20% of jecoleic acid, C19H3602, and 20% of therapic acid, C 17 H 28 O 2; other investigators have recognized jecoric acid, C 18 H 30 O 2, asellic acid, C17H3202, and physetoleic acid, C16Hn02, but some uncertainty attends these last three acids.
In this field he contributed to our knowledge of the manufacture of iron and steel, sulphuric acid, glass and paper, and in particular worked at the saponification of fats with sulphuric acid and the utilization of palmitic acid for candle-making.
It contains palmitic and several other fatty acids, among which there is one - ricinoleic acid - peculiar to itself.
