764 ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW- YORK 



increases with the number of respirations, whilst the relative 

 amount (that which is contained in a given volume of air) 

 diminishes. These experiments tend to confirm in a remarkable 

 manner my suspicions as to a greater consumption of carbon 

 during this disease; they show also that the organs of respiration, 

 though weakened, inhale a greater quantity of air, and exhale 

 also an increased quantity, though less in proportion, of carbonic 

 acid. From the diminished proportion of the carbonic acid to the 

 volume of air in the increased respirations, it is clear that the 

 system could not afford an adequate supply of carbon. 



When in London I sought an interview with Dr. Theophilus 

 Thompson, F.R.S., with the object of learning his views on the 

 efficacy of oil as medicine, of which he has had great experience, 

 and which I am informed, he first introduced into the London 

 hospitals. In the course of conversation he drew my attention to 

 several cases, in which his patients had gained more by the use 

 of cod liver oil than the weight of the oil supplied. I ventured to 

 suggest that this might possibly be attributed to the food being 

 deficient in elements which are found concentrated in oil; in 

 support of which I explained that in my treatment of dairy cows 

 I have completely satisfied myself that by adding to ordinary food 

 beans or other materials peculiarly rich in albumen but com- 

 paratively deficient in oil, I enrich the milk not only in curd but 

 also in butter, to a far greater extent than is containetl in the oil 

 of such additional food. 



Lehmann (Leipsic), second edition, page 271, states: "On 

 theoretic grounds I have long been satisfied that fats belong to 

 the most active agents in the metamorphosis of animal materials 

 (of digestion,) and that by numerous experiments and observations 



I have completely assured myself of this (that what had been matter 

 of subjective^ had by experiment becojne matter of objective cer- 

 tainty)?"^ 



These experiments he explains, and cites others by Elsasser, 

 which show that the digestion is materially assisted by an admix- 

 ture of fat. I learnt from Dr. Thompson that cod liver oil is 

 composed almost wholly of carbon and hydrogen, with a smaller 

 percentage of oxygen than other fats. I did not ascertain from 

 him, nor do I find in his lecture to the Medical Society, a copy 

 of which he kindly presented to me, the relative proportion of 



