268 HALOIDS AND HALOID BASES. 



It may be observed, in reference to the small quantity of fat 

 contained in tubercles, that many fat-vesicles are often discovered 

 under the microscope in recent tubercular deposits, as, for 

 instance, in gelatinous tubercles, but that gray, solid tubercles, 

 when submitted to a chemical analysis, after the separation of the 

 cholesterin, which although not belonging to the fats is always 

 reckoned amongst them, are found to contain very little fat. In 

 a gray tubercular mass, I once discovered only 3"54$ in the well- 

 dried substance, although almost every other tissue contained far 

 more fat. Becquerel and Rodier* found, moreover, that in tuber- 

 culosis the saponified fats were far more diminished in the blood 

 than in any other fluid. 



We may here, perhaps, find some explanation of the mode of 

 action of cod-liver oil, whose utility cannot be wholly denied even 

 by that spirit of scepticism which has of late been so prevalent in 

 medicine ; and we have always been of opinion that cod-liver oil 

 acts upon certain stages of disease more by its true fatty nature 

 than by the small quantity of iodine which it contains. In con- 

 firmation of this view we may observe that many experienced prac- 

 titioners (Oppolzer among the number) have found that almond 

 oil and other similar oils are as efficacious as the loathsome cod- 

 liver oil. But the idea that cod-liver oil, considered (according to 

 the misconception of Liebig's viewsf) as a mere material of com- 

 bustion, should be of benefit in a disease where the lungs are so 

 entirely clogged or degenerated that an extensive oxidation of the 

 blood is impossible, can only be entertained by persons wholly 

 ignorant of the character of tuberculosis or of pulmonary consump- 

 tion. No chemical analysis is needed to show that cellular cancer 

 (encephaloid) and sarcoma abound in fat, and every one who has 

 examined one or two of such tumours microscopically will be able 

 to confirm the truth of this ordinary observation. 



When we consider all these facts we shall be almost involuntarily 

 led to the conclusion that fat takes a highly important share in 

 the most important, and at the same time the most mysterious pro- 

 cesses in the formation of cells and tissues. We cannot believe 

 that fat is a mere incidental agent in all these processes, but we 

 must rather regard it as of essential aid in the process of converting 

 nitrogenous nutrient substances into cells and masses of fibres, in 

 like manner as it cooperates in the processes of lactic fermentation 

 and digestion ; and it is probable that whenever a chemical equa- 



* Gaz. m^d. 1844. No. 51. 



t Ann. d. Ch. u. Pharm. Bd. 58, S. 84-89. 



