Spermaceti

Theories for the spermaceti organ's biological function suggest that it may control buoyancy, act as a focusing apparatus for the whale's sense of echolocation, or possibly both.

This claim has been called into question by recent research that indicates a lack of biological structures to support this heat exchange, and the fact that the change in density is too small to be meaningful until the organ grows to a huge size.

[3] Measurement of the proportion of wax esters retained by a harvested sperm whale accurately described the age and future life expectancy of a given individual.

[4] Spermaceti wax is extracted from sperm oil by crystallisation at 6 °C (43 °F), when treated by pressure and a chemical solution of caustic alkali.

Spermaceti forms brilliant white crystals that are hard but oily to the touch, and are devoid of taste or smell, making it very useful as an ingredient in cosmetics, leatherworking, and lubricants.

The substance was also used in making candles of a standard photometric value, in the dressing of fabrics, and as a pharmaceutical excipient, especially in cerates and ointments.

Candlepower, a photometric unit defined in the United Kingdom Act of Parliament Metropolitan Gas Act 1860 and adopted at the International Electrotechnical Conference of 1883, was based on the light produced by a single, pure spermaceti candle.

[8] It is composed mostly of wax esters (chiefly cetyl palmitate) and a smaller proportion of triglycerides.

The proportion of wax esters retained by an average (living) whale head appears to reflect buoyancy influenced by heat.

On land, the casks were allowed to chill during the winter, causing the spermaceti to congeal into a spongy and viscous mass.