Oil of Eulachon.
Oil of Eulachon,—The fish known by the North Pacific Indians under the name of Eulachon or Oulachon, and by the English as Hoolakins or Candle fish, the Thaleichthys pacificus of scientists, yields a great abundance of an oil which has been proposed as a substitute for cod liver oil. According to the editor of N. R. (1881, 356), this oil first begins to congeal and become opaque at -7° C. (19.4° F.), although authorities state that at ordinary temperatures it grows solid and lard-like. Specific gravity at 15.5° C. (60° F.), 0.907; mixed with one-half its volume of nitric acid, specific gravity 1.37, it develops a beautiful pink color which fades slowly to amber, and after standing fifteen hours it is considerably thickened and its color is changed to a deep amber of a reddish cast. It contains about 20 per cent. of palmitic and stearic acids, and 60 per cent. of oleic acid and 13 per cent. of an unsaponifiable substance, which resembles the similar constituent of sperm oil. (T. (?., Sept. 15, 1884.)
