WHALE OIL

also called Train Oil, oil that is obtained from whales, principally from their blubber. From the 16th to the 19th century, the oil was important for soapmaking and as a fuel for lamps. In the 20th century, whale oil has often been converted into margarine and cooking fats. The paint and varnish and the printing-ink industries formerly used whale oil. Treated with sulfur, it provided extreme-pressure lubricants. Textile sizings and wax compositions could be made from the hardened oil. Fatty acids for soaps and fatty alcohols for cosmetics and detergents were derived by immersing the fats in alkalies. Production of whale oil usually took place on large factory ships. The minced blubber and whalebone were cooked under steam pressure. Whale-liver oil was usually extracted by a solvent after digestion with alkali. Whale blubber yielded 50 to 80 percent oil by weight, whalebones 10 to 70 percent, and whale meat 2 to 8 percent. See also sperm oil; spermaceti.