As a consequence of the foregoing facts, natural fats and oils do not exhibit a definite melting point, composed as they are of mixtures of various crystalline glycerides, higher alcohols, fatty acids, and non-crystalline substances. Therefore, the term melting point when applied to them requires further definition. They exhibit first a lower melting point (the melting point of the lowest melting component) or what might be called the softening point and following this the fat softens through a shorter or longer range of temperature to the final melting point at which temperature the fat is entirely liquid. This is the melting point determined by the Committee's melting-point method. The range between the softening point and the final melting point varies greatly with the different fats and oils depending on their chemical components, the water associated with them, emulsification, etc. In the case of coconut oil the range between softening point and final melting point is rather short; in the case of butter, long. Various methods have been devised to determine the so-called melting point of fats and oils. Most of these methods, however, determine, not the melting point, but the softening point or the flow point of the fat and the great difficulty has been in the past to devise a method which would determine even this point with reasonable accuracy and so that results could be easily duplicated. It has been the aim of the Committee to devise a simple method for the determination of the melting point of fats and oils, but it should be understood that the term melting point in the scientific sense is not applicable to natural fats and oils. FOOTNOTES: [22] Approved by the Supervisory Committee on Standard Methods of Analysis of the American Chemical Society. [23] Live steam must not be turned into tank cars or coils before samples are drawn, since there is no certain way of telling when coils are free from leaks. [24] If there is water present under the solid material this must be noted and estimated separately. [25] Boiling point of water at reduced pressures. Pressure Boiling Point Boiling Point Boiling Point Mm. Hg. to 1deg. C. +15deg. C. +20deg. C. 100 52deg. C. 67deg. C. 72deg. C. 90 50 65 70 80 47 62 67 70 45 60 65 60 42 57 62 50 38 53 58 40 34 49 54