376 
Fish  Oils  used  as  Medicine. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
t     Mig.  1, 1874. 
siurn  as  a  volumetric  test  ;  but  it  would  be  useful  for  the  detection  of 
alkaloids  where  the  precautions  indicated  are  taken. — Pharm.  Jour. 
[London],  June  20,  1874. 
FISH  OILS  USED  AS  MEDICINE. 
The  Chemist  and  Druggist  contains  a  paper,  by  Mr.  P.  L.  Sim- 
monds,  on  the  fish  oils  of  commerce,  from  which  the  following  extract 
relating  to  those  oils  which  are  used  in  medicine  is  made  : 
"  In  Russia  among  the  accessory  products  obtained  from  various 
species  of  fish,  oil  is  one  of  the  principal,  amounting  in  value  to  about 
half  a  million  of  roubles.  This  oil  has  three  different  uses — for  medi- 
cine, for  food,  and  for  industrial  purposes.  Its  source  or  origin  is 
also  threefold,  according  to  the  part  of  the  fish  in  which  it  is  chiefly 
concentrated.  In  some  species,  as,  for  example,  in  the  cod,  it  is  ob- 
tained exclusively  from  the  liver  ;  in  others,  as  in  the  c  sandre,'  the 
fat  surrounds  the  intestines,  the  rest  of  the  body  in  these  fish  never 
being  fat ;  but  in  the  larger  number  of  species,  as  the  herring,  the 
salmon,  and  the  siluroids,  it  penetrates  all  the  frame.  According  to 
these  differences  in  the  distribution  of  the  fat  in  the  body  of  the  fish, 
as  well  as  the  use  to  which  the  oil  is  to  be  applied,  the  mode  of  ex- 
traction varies.  The  cod-liver  oil  for  medicinal  use  is  extracted  from 
the  livers  cut  into  pieces  while  they  are  still  fresh,  and  submitted  to 
the  action  of  heat  in  a  steam  bath.  This  method  has  only  been  intro- 
duced of  late  years  on  the  coast  of  Lapland,  on  the  initiation  of  the 
Minister  of  Works  of  Russia,  who  offered  rewards  to  those  who  fol- 
lowed the  better  method  pursued  in  Norway,  to  which  publicity  was 
given.  The  invitation  was  readily  responded  to,  and  from  one  fisher- 
man alone  the  Government  buys-  15,000  lbs.  to  20,000  lbs.  of  cod- 
liver  oil  for  use  in  the  hospital.  The  fish  oil  which  is  intended  for 
food  is  obtained  principally  from  the  fat  which  surrounds  the  intes- 
tines of  different  species  of  sturgeon  and  the  '  sandre  ;  '  these  are 
heaped  together,  washed  and  melted  by  heat.  This  oil  is  added  to 
caviare,  which  of  itself  is  not  considered  sufficiently  rich  in  fat,  and  is 
also  used  at  the  seat  of  production,  in  place  of  vegetable  oil,  by  the 
workmen  on  fast  days. 
"  Very  good  medicinal  cod-liver  oil  is  now  made  at  St.  Pierre, 
Newfoundland,  by  the  French,  and  it  forms  a  considerable  article  of 
commerce,  its  production  having  been  encouraged  by  the  French 
♦ 
