312 
PHARMACEUTICAL MEETING. 
worked very carefully, and who gave a detailed account of his experiments, 
which were carried on in every possible way, failed to obtain any trace of this 
crystalline principle. When Dr. Fliickiger brought forward the subject of a 
new kind of kamala, it struck him that this might have been the article used 
by Dr. Anderson, and he accordingly wrote to Dr. Anderson for a small portion 
of his sample. On receiving it, however, he found it was the old sort, and he 
thought that further experiments were required to set the question of rottlerine 
at rest. 
LOFODEN NORWEGIAN COD-LIVER OIL. 
BY ROBERT HOWDEN. 
The information in this paper relating to Lofoden cod-liver oil is supplied on 
the authority of four gentlemen in Norway,—Captain H. Olsen, of the Royal 
Navy, Commanding Ollicer of the Government Surveillance at Lofoden ; 
Captain Heyerdahl, of the Royal Navy, engaged on the same station ; Mr. 
Moller, a pharmaceutist, of Christiania, who has devoted many years of a long 
life to the subject, and Mr. Sharpe, an English merchant at Christiania. To 
the latter gentleman, my friend Mr. Sliarpe, I am under particular obligation, 
for he not only translated a series of questions prepared for the purpose into 
the Norwegian language, but placed himself in direct communication with those 
gentlemen whom he considered, by their official position or personal experience 
able to supply accurate and intelligent information. He further translated their 
replies into English, thereby furnishing the basis of the present communication. 
Every year, early in the month of January, the cod-fish begin their great 
migration from the deep sea. Moving in a north-easterly direction, they ap¬ 
proach the coasts of Norway and concentrate themselves upon the Lofoden Is¬ 
lands, entering their estuaries by the Westfjord. These islands are situated 
near the northern extremity of Norway, about 150 miles within the Arctic 
Circle. The Westfjord is a sheltered bay extending for thirty miles between 
the islands and the continent. 
The cause of this great migration of the cod is probably due to the instinct 
of propagation. The roe is specifically lighter than sea-water and floats upon 
it, heuce the fish seek those shallow and more quiet waters where their ova may 
be securely hatched, protected equally from the strong northerly winds of the 
glacial regions and from the impetuous currents and waves of the Atlantic by 
the lofty wind-guards and natural breakwaters they find in the Lofoden Islands. 
In this favourable locality, after the roe is hatched, they leave their young fry. 
Immediately on the appearance of the immense shoals of cod at Lofoden, a 
remarkable result ensues,—all other kinds of fish disappear with one consent. 
The exact cause of this curious phenomenon is not yet understood, but 
literally is it the fact that the very herrings used as bait can no longer be taken 
in those waters, but have to be imported from a distance, and are sold to the 
fishermen as articles of trade. Two important consequences attend this sin¬ 
gular circumstauce ; one, that the fecundated roe, secure from the predatory at¬ 
tacks of many voracious enemies, has a favourable opportunity for development, 
whereby a large supply of this valuable fish is maintained ; the second, that no 
other fish than cod can be taken in the nets, and consequently, no other livers 
than those of the cod can be employed in the preparation of the oil. 
As soon as the cod are known to have arrived, the fishing begins without de¬ 
lay. But during the month of January, the results are neither large nor im¬ 
portant, as those engaged at first are only agricultural labourers and peasants 
living near the coasts. Fishermen by vocation, many of whom come from con¬ 
siderable distances, begin to arrive towards the end of the month, when the 
