380 MATERIA MEDIC A AND THERAPEUTICS. 



free acid which it contains, and which greatly facilitates sapo- 

 nification and emulsion, as well as absorption. 



2. ACTION ON THE BLOOD. 



Like olive and other oils, it enters the circulation, carrying 

 with it traces of the other constituents. Increasing the rich- 

 ness of the chyle, it improves the quality of the blood, especially 

 as regards the corpuscles, and is thus a hsematinic. 



3. SPECIFIC ACTION AND USES. 



Passing into the cells, cod-liver oil is a nutrient of the 

 first importance, whilst the traces of iodine, bromine, phos- 

 phates, other salts, and the trimethylamin doubtless produce a 

 slight specific action when the oil is given continuously for 

 months. The latter effects are, however, quite secondary to 

 those of the oil proper, that is, to its effects as a food. Thus 

 cod-liver oil differs from other oils (olive and almond oils, 

 cream, butter, etc.), chiefly, but not solely, in respect of the 

 ease with which it is digested and absorbed. 



Cod-liver oil is very extensively used in almost all kinds of 

 chronic disease attended by wasting. The chief of these 

 diseases are scrofula in its various forms, phthisis, rickets, 

 tertiary syphilis, chronic rheumatism, and general debility 

 referable to misery, over-work, and under-feeding. In con- 

 valescence from acute illness it is of much service. It is also 

 one of the best restoratives of the nervous functions, and of 

 great value as a tonic in neuralgia, headache, mental irrita- 

 bility, despondency, and other less definite disorders, referable 

 to exhaustion or inherent debility of the nervous centres. 



In every instance where cod-liver oil is indicated, the first 

 point to be determined is whether it can be taken and digested. 

 Besides the difficulty of taste, two conditions distinctly contra- 

 indicate the exhibition of the oil, namely, diarrhoea and consi- 

 derable fever. Gastric dyspepsia also suggests hesitation in the 

 use of oil, but if alkaline stomachics are given before meals, and 

 the oil after, it will be found to agree perfectly in most cases. 

 If oil be persistently rejected, it should be stopped for a time, 

 and again cautiously tried, or given with ether (10 minims of 

 pure ether to 1 drachm of oil) or as an emulsion. 



HYMENOPTERA. 



Kiel HONEY. A saccharine secretion deposited 

 in the honeycomb, by Apis mellifica, the Hive Bee. 



Characters and test. When recently separated from the 

 honeycomb, it is a viscid translucent liquid, of a brownish 



