_Cocoanut Oil_, as the name implies, is obtained from the fruit of the cocoanut palm. This oil is a solid, white fat at ordinary temperature, having a bland taste and a characteristic odor. It is rarely adulterated and is very readily saponified. In recent years the price of this oil has increased materially because cocoanut oil is now being used extensively for edible purposes, especially in the making of oleomargarine. Present indications are that shortly very little high grade oil will be employed for soap manufacture since the demand for oleomargarine is constantly increasing and since new methods of refining the oil for this purpose are constantly being devised. The oil is found in the market under three different grades: (1) Cochin cocoanut oil, the choicest oil comes from Cochin (Malabar). This product, being more carefully cultivated and refined than the other grades, is whiter, cleaner and contains a smaller percentage of free acid. (2) Ceylon cocoanut oil, coming chiefly from Ceylon, is usually of a yellowish tint and more acrid in odor than Cochin oil. (3) Continental cocoanut oil (Copra, Freudenberg) is obtained from the dried kernels, the copra, which are shipped to Europe in large quantities, where the oil is extracted. These dried kernels yield 60 to 70 per cent oil. This product is generally superior to the Ceylon oil and may be used as a very satisfactory substitute for Cochin oil, in soap manufacture, provided it is low in free acid and of good color. The writer has employed it satisfactorily in the whitest and finest of toilet soaps without being able to distinguish any disadvantage to the Cochin oil. Since continental oil is usually cheaper than Cochin oil, it is advisable to use it, as occasion permits. Cocoanut oil is used extensively in toilet soap making, usually in connection with tallow. When used alone the soap made from this oil forms a lather, which comes up rapidly but which is fluffy and dries quickly. A pure tallow soap lathers very much slower but produces a more lasting lather. Thus the advantage of using cocoanut oil in soap is seen. It is further used in making a cocoanut oil soap by the cold process also for "fake" or filled soaps. The fatty acid content readily starts the saponification which takes place easily with a strong lye (25deg.-35deg. B.). Where large quantities of the oil are saponified care must be exercised as the soap formed suddenly rises or puffs up and may boil over. Cocoanut oil soap takes up large quantities of water, cases having been cited where a 500 per cent. yield has been obtained. This water of course dries out again upon exposure to the air. The soap is harsh to the skin, develops rancidity and darkens readily.