COD-LIVES OIL. 207 



but it ought to cost a good few pounds instead of a few pence. 

 I have elsewhere stated that the quantity of eggs yielded by a 

 female cod is often three millions : supposing only a third of 

 them to come to life — that is one million — and that a tenth 

 part of that number, viz. one hundred thousand, becomes in 

 some shape — that is, either as codling or cod — ^fit for table uses, 

 what should be the value of the cod-roe that is carelessly con- 

 sumed at table 1 If each fish be taken as of the value of six- 

 pence, the amount would be £2500. But supposing that only 

 twenty full-grown codfish resulted from the three millions of 

 eggs ; these, at two and sixpence each, would represent the sum 

 of fifty shillings as the possible produce of one dish, which, in 

 the shape of cod-roe, cost only about as many farthings ! 



Cuvier tells us that " almost all the parts of the cod are 

 adapted for the nourishment of man and animals, or for some 

 other purposes of domestic economy. The tongue, for instance, 

 whether fresh or salted, is a great delicacy ; the giUs are care- 

 fully preserved, to be employed as baits in fishing ; the liver, 

 which is large and good for eating, also furnishes an enormous 

 quantity of oil, which is an excellent substitute for that of the 

 whale, and applicable to all the same purposes ; the swimming- 

 bladder furnishes an isinglass not inferior to that yielded by the 

 sturgeon ; the head, in the places where the cod is taken, 

 supplies the fishermen and their families with food. The Nor- 

 wegians give it with marine plants to their cows, for the purpose 

 of producing a greater proportion of milk. The vertebrae, the 

 ribs,'and the bones in general, are given to their cattle by the 

 Icelanders, and by the Kaintschatkians to their dogs. These 

 same parts, properly dried, are also employed as fuel in the 

 desolate steppes of the shores of the Icy Sea. Even their in- 

 testines and their eggs contribute to the luxury of the table." 

 I may just mention another most useful product of the codfish. 

 Cod-liver oil is now well known in materia medica under the 

 name of olevm jecoris aselli. The best is made without boiling, 

 by applying to the livers a slight degree of heat, straining 

 through thin flannel or similar texture. When carefully pre- 

 pared it is- quite pure, nearly inodorous, and of a crystalline 

 transparency. The specific gravity at temperature 64° is about 

 •920°. It seems to have been first used medicinally by 

 Dr. Percival in 1782 for the cure of chronic rheumatism ; after- 

 wards by Dr. Bardsly in 1807. It has now become a popular 

 remedy in all the slow-wasting diseases, particularly in scrofulous 



