332 OILS AND FATS, ETC. 



creased by the Academy of Medicine, who consider the brown, pale, and 

 white oils of the Newfoundland French Fisheries as rivalling the best 

 products of the British and Norwegian manufactories. That which is 

 made in the months of April, May, and June, is of a superior quality ; 

 the livers are then of a lean or thin nature, but earlier they are very fat, 

 and, in a therapeutic point of view, furnish oil of less value and purity. 



An excellent descriptive article on the manufacture of cod-liver oil 

 in Norway, and a new method of preparing it for medicinal purposes, 

 by Mr. Peter Moller, was published in the Technologist, vol. ii., p. 376. 



Oolachan Oil from Vancouver. — At page 48 of this vol. we gave 

 a short account of this new oil ; we now append some further 

 details. 



The oil obtained from the Hou-li-kun is a common article of food 

 among the northern tribes, and one of which they are very fond. This 

 fish is not unlike a sprat, but somewhat longer and rounder, and is so 

 oily that, when dried, it will burn like a candle. It is not found at the 

 south pait of the island, (Vancouver) but is caugbt in great numbers to the 

 northward. The process of extracting the oil is very primitive indeed. 

 Mr. Duncan gives, in one of his letters, the following description of it, as 

 witnessed by him at Nass River : — " In a general way," he says, " I found 

 each house had a pit near it, about three feet deep, and six or eight inches 

 square, filled with the little fish. I found some Indians making boxes 

 to put the grease in, others cutting firewood, and others (women and 

 children) stringing the fish and hanging them up to dry in the sun, while 

 others, and they the greater number, were making the fish-grease. The 

 process is as follows : — Make a large fire, put four or five heaps of stones 

 as big as your hand in it ; while these are heating, fill a few baskets with 

 rather stale fish, and get a tub of water into the house. When the stones 

 are red-hot, bring a box about eighteen inches square (the sides of which 

 are all one piece of wood) near the fire, and put about half a gallon of the 

 fish in it, and as much fresh water ; then three or four hot stones, using 

 woodei? tongs. Repeat the doses again, then stir the whole up. Repeat 

 them again, stir again, take out the cold stones, and place them in the 

 fire. Proceed in this way until the box is nearly full, then let the whole 

 cool, and commence skimming off the grease. While this is cooking 

 prepare another boxfull in the same way. In doing the third, use 

 instead of fresh water, the liquid from the first box. , 



On coming to the refuse of the boiled fish in the box, which is still 

 pretty warm, let it be put into a rough willow basket ; then let an old 

 woman for the purpose of squeezing the liquid from it, lay it on a 

 wooden grate, sufficiently elevated to let a wooden box stand under ; 

 then let her lay her naked chest on it, and press it with all her weight. 

 On no account must a male undertake to do this."* This oil has been 



* Captain Mayne's British Columbia. 



