Ɛpsilon

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

1
See letter to W. W. Baxter, 6 January [1878] and n. 2. CD had asked about the composition of spermaceti ointment purchased from Baxter, a local chemist; it had apparently damaged some growing plants on which CD was experimenting. See British pharmacopœia (1877), p. 353.
2
Olein and margarin were terms for components of plant oils (see Dussauce 1869, pp. 171–2, OED).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-11315,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-11315