Spermaceti.

Nearly pure Cetine, obtained, mixed with oil, from the head of the Sperm Whale, Physeter macrocephalus, Linn., inhabiting the Pacific and Indian Oceans. It is separated from the oil by filtration and pressure, and afterwards purified.

Characters and Tests. - Crystalline, pearly white, glistening, translucent, with little taste or odour, reducible to powder by the addition of a little rectified spirit. Scarcely unctuous to the touch; does not melt under 100°.