REVIEW. 155 
parent, having the smell of the fish, and an oily and some- 
what unpleasant taste. 
“ Composition. — Dr. Jongh, having analysed cod-liver oil, 
found it to consist of ‘ oleate and margarate of glycerin, 
some biliary matter, with traces of butyric, acetic, and other 
organic acids ; also of iodine and bromine, and a very minute 
quantity of resinous-like matter, termed by him Gaduin / 
supposed by Phillips to be an impurity arising from partial 
decomposition of the oil. 
u The oil of the liver of other fishes has been used in the 
same cases as cod’s-liver oil, and why not? Such, for in- 
stance, as the ling [Lota molva). Lately in India, Presidency 
of Madras, several fishes have been found to furnish an oil 
equal in medicinal action to that of the cod ; such as the 
Seer- fish, or Vungarum ; also a species of shark, called the 
w hite shark, the oil from which is remarkably pure and very 
efficacious as a therapeutic agent ; and a variety of skate, 
called Therilca , the oil from which has been found superior to 
any of the other kinds. 
“ Analyses of these oils having been made in England, 
they have been found to contain the same proximate prin- 
ciples as the cod-liver oil, and the same elementary sub- 
stances : although, perhaps, in appearance a little improvement 
might be made by filtering them at a low temperature, as 
they contain a somewhat large quantity of insoluble matter. 
“ One of the tests applied to cod-liver oil is sulphuric acid, 
which develops a violet colour, depending on the reaction 
that obtains between this acid and biliary matter in the oil, 
to which, by some persons, its efficacy has been attributed. 
As this is common to the oil obtained from the livers of most 
fishes, there is no reason why one kind of oil should not 
prove as valuable a medicinal agent as another. 
“ Properties and Uses. — The dark coloured, strong smelling, 
or rancid oils, are not considered fit for use ; yet many prefer 
the unpurified oil to that now sold in the shops under the 
name of ‘ Purified Cod-Liver Oil . 5 
“ For many years this oil has been resorted to medicinally, 
but only of late it can be said to have come into general 
use. It has been considered by some writers as an alterative, 
and by others as an anti-scrofulous remedy ; its action by 
them being thought to be owing to the minute quantity of 
iodine and bromine found in it. The probability is, that its 
efficacy is rather referable to its becoming assimilated ; it 
being, in the popular sense of the term, nutrient matter, 
since animals have been found to become very fat during its 
administration. 
