A Lesson before Dying, one of Ernest J. Gaines later works, was written in 1993. Some of his earlier works include A Gathering of Old Men and In My Father's House. The novel covers a time period when blacks were still treated unfairly and looked down upon. Jefferson, a main character, has been wrongly...
Today, soaps are made from fats and oils that react with lye (sodium hydroxide). Solid fats like coconut oil, palm oil, tallow (rendered beef fat), or lard (rendered pork fat), are used to form bars of soap that stay hard and resist dissolving in the water left in the soap dish.
Fats and oils are composed of triglycerides; three molecules of fatty acids attach to a single molecule of glycerol. The alkaline solution, which is often called lye (although the term lye soap refers almost exclusively to soaps made with sodium hydroxide), brings about a chemical reaction known as saponification.he glycerin, a useful by-product, can remain in the soap product as a softening agent, or be isolated for other uses. Soaps are key components of most lubricating greases, which are usually emulsions of calcium soap or lithium soap and mineral oil.