His
oil chills at fifty-two degrees of Fahrenheit, and eight of Reaumur, is
black and offensive; worth, therefore, but thirteen pounds the ton,
in London. In warm summer nights, however, it burns better than the
Greenland oil.
To the qualities of the oils thus described, it is to be added, that an
individual has discovered methods, 1. of converting a great part of
the oils of the spermaceti-whale, into the solid substance called
spermaceti, heretofore produced from his head alone; 2. of refining
the Greenland whale-oil, so as to take from it all smell, and render it
limpid and luminous as that of the spermaceti-whale; 3. of curdling
the oil of the Brazil whale into tallow, resembling that of beef, and
answering all its purposes. This person is engaged by the company, which
has established the refinery at Rouen: their works will cost them half a
million of livres; will be able to refine all the oil which can be used
in the kingdom, and even to supply foreign markets. The effects of the
refinery, then, would be, 1. to supplant the solid spermaceti of all
other nations, by theirs, of equal quality and lower price; 2.
Pages:
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853
854
855
856
857
858
859
860
861
862
863
864
865
866
867
868
869