Oils from Marine Mammals. 199 



with cod-liver oil and that obtained from the dugong ; but 

 they might be often used with advantage for inunction, 

 where they are not easily retained on the stomach. 



Dr. T. Thompson has pointed out the medicinal value 

 of various animal oils besides cod-liver oil, such as sperm 

 and seal oil ; and the result of his observations was a con- 

 viction that fish oils generally resembled one another in 

 their remedial properties, although differing in their aptitude 

 for digestive assimilation in the human stomach. He tried 

 neat's-foot oil, an animal oil obtained from a soft, solid fat 

 found between the parchment and the leather skin of 

 animals ; also shark-liver oil, and an oil obtained from a 

 species of fish abounding on the Malabar coast ; and these 

 trials were frequently attended with encouraging results. 



The practice of daily inunction is common in many 

 warm countries, and serves to soften the skin and keep the 

 body in health. In tropical regions, vegetable oils are 

 chiefly used ; but the New Zealanders and some others use 

 shark oil. The Esquimaux and Greenlanders imbibe large 

 quantities of train, seal, and various fish oils ; whilst the 

 natives about the large rivers and coasts of Brazil use turtle 

 oil, and fat obtained from the alligator and crocodile. The 

 natives of many parts of India use shark oil and that from 

 the liver of the sword-fish in anointing their skin. 



Those who are employed in the woollen trade, and in 

 soap, candle, and other factories, where oil and fats are 

 largely used, enjoy a comparative immunity from scrofula 

 and phthisis. Sailors believe a whaling voyage to be a cure 

 for consumption ; and probably the quantity of oil drunk 

 and taken into the skin may have its beneficial effect upon 

 the system. 



The Seal Fishery. After the cod fishery, the seal 

 fishery is the most profitable branch of trade in New- 



