When olive oil is cooled down to 32° F. and submitted to pressure, a solid residuum is obtained, which, when more completely separated from the oily portion after melting and slowly cooling to the temperature of 55° or 60° by a second pressing, is the substance formerly called margarine. It dissolves in about 400 times its weight of boiling alcohol, and separates in pearly scales as the alcohol cools; whence its name, from Gr. , a pearl. It is also obtained from human fat, goose grease, and other fatty substances. "When saponified it yields an acid in the form of white pearly scales or fine needles, called margarie acid. This, according to Ileintz, is a compound of stearic and palmitic acids, into which it may be separated. The term margarie acid is now restricted to an artificially prepared fatty acid having the definite composition C17H34O2. This acid is produced by the action of potash on cyanide of cetyle (mar-garonitritc). The margarine or margarie acid described by Chevreul in 1820 has been shown to be a compound of stearic acid and other fatty acids of lower melting point.