From W. W. Baxter 7 January 1878
Bromley Kent
Jan 7th 78
Sir
The Spermaceti Ointment supplied to you is made according to the orders of the British Pharmacopæa which are
Spermaceti 5 ounces
White Wax 2 ounces
Almond Oil 20 ounces or a sufficiency
Would the effects produced be caused by any-thing used in the bleaching the Bees’ Wax?1
The process used to be by exposure to air in thin ribands & in the end refined by melting in water acidulated by sulphuric acid, but what is the mode adopted now I do not know, but will inquire if you wish it.
Oil of Almonds differs but little in composition from Olive Oil containing more oleine & less margarine.2
With respects | Yrs obedly | Wm. W. Baxter
C. Darwin Esqre
Footnotes
Bibliography
British pharmacopœia (1877). Third reprint of the 1867 edition, with additions made in 1874. London: General Medical Council. 1877.
Dussauce, Hippolyte. 1869. A general treatise on the manufacture of soap, theoretical and practical. Philadelphia: Henry Carey Baird. London: Trübner & Co.
OED: The Oxford English dictionary. Being a corrected re-issue with an introduction, supplement and bibliography of a new English dictionary. Edited by James A. H. Murray, et al. 12 vols. and supplement. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1970. A supplement to the Oxford English dictionary. 4 vols. Edited by R. W. Burchfield. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1972–86. The Oxford English dictionary. 2d edition. 20 vols. Prepared by J. A. Simpson and E. S. C. Weiner. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1989. Oxford English dictionary additional series. 3 vols. Edited by John Simpson et al. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1993–7.
Summary
Constituents of spermaceti ointment supplied to CD. Perhaps effect was caused by substance used to bleach the bees-wax.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-11315
- From
- William Walmisley Baxter
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Bromley
- Source of text
- DAR 209.8: 150
- Physical description
- ALS 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 11315,” accessed on 24 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-11315.xml
