Stearine is made, in this country, al most exclusively from lard, which fur nishes about two-sevenths of its weight ; the remaining five-sevenths being manu factured into lard oil.
Lime is the material used to saponify stearine, according to the old patent pro cess of Gay Lussac, the celebrated French chemist ; the process being effected by several hours' boiling, and the decompo sition of the lime-soap is then effected by sulphuric acid.
The cakes of crude stearine—about 5,000 lbs. at a time—are then melted and saponified ; the lime-soap decomposed;the stearine acid washed and cast into slabs or cakes of one by two feet in di mensions, and two inches thick. These are then pressed, cold, in powerful hy draulic presses, which squeezes out a portion of oleine—the red oil of com merce. They are pressed a second time in the hot presses, which are still more powerful than the others. They are af terwards steamed, drawn off into pans while hot, and bleached, strained through cloths into tin pans, and when it cools, forms blocks of a beautiful white wax appearance.
(SoArsroNE) is a mineral of the magnesian family. It has a gray ish-white or greenish-white color, often marked with dendritic delineations, and occurs massive, as also in various suppo sitions crystalline forms ; it has a dull or fatty lustre ; a coarse splintery fracture, with translucent edges; a shining streak ; it writes feebly ; is soft, and easily cut with a knife, but somewhat tough ; does not adhere to the tongue ; feels very greasy; infusible before the blow-pipe specific gravity from 2.6 to 2.8. It con
sists of—silica, 44 ; magnesia, 44; alu. mina, 2; iron, 7.3; manganese, 1.5; chrome, 2 ; with a trace of lime. It is found frequently in small contempora neous veins that traverse serpentine in all directions, as in Shetland, in the limestone of Icolmkiln, in the serpentine of Cornwall, in Anglesey, in Saxony, Ba varia, Hungary, at Hoboken, N. J., and in Vermont. It is used in the manufac ture of porcelain. It makes the biscuit semi-transparent, but rather brittle, and apt to crack with slight changes of heat. It is employed for polishing serpentine, marble, gypseous alabaster, and mirror glass ; as the basis of cosmetic powders ; as an ingredient in anti-attrition pastes ; it is dusted in powder upon the inside of boots, to make the feet glide easily into them; when rubbed upon grease-spots in silk and woollen clothes, it removes the stains by absorption ; it enters into the composition of certain crayons, and is used itself for making traces upon glass, silk, slabs for the sides and back of stores, &c. The spotted steatite, cut into cameos and calcined, assumes an onyx aspect. Soft steatite forms excel lent stoppers for the chemical apparatus used in distilling or subliming corrosive vapors. Lamellar steatite is TALC.