628 
Eulachon  Oil. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Dec,  1884. 
Raiz  de  Calumba  de  Brasil. — This  is  used  as  a  tonic  in  weak  diges- 
tion and  for  diarrhoea.    Simaruba  salubris,  Engl. 
Raiz  de  Jaborandi  do  Rio  (Artanthe  Mollicoma,  Miq.) — Root  used 
as  a  diuretic  and  in  liver  complaints.  See  Peckolt  in  Pharm.  Centralh., 
1878,  No.  37. — Pharm.  Journ.  and  Trans.,  October,  1884,  p.  327. 
EULACHON  OIL— A  SUBSTITUTE  FOR  COD  LIVER  OIL. 
By  A.  B.  Lyons,  M.  D.,  Detroit,  Michigan.1 
The  bays  and  estuaries  of  the  Pacific  coast  of  British  America  and 
Alaska,  are  annually  visited  by  immense  shoals  of  a  small  fish  popu- 
larly known  as  the  candle  fish,  or,  adopting  the  vernacular  name,  as 
the  eulachon  or  outachon.  This  fish  belongs  to  the  family  of  the  sal- 
monidse,  and  bears  the  scientific  name  Thaleicthys  pacificus  (Richard- 
son) Girard.  It  is  nearly  allied  to  the  capelin,  which  it  resembles  also 
in  its  habits. 
The  Indian  name  is  variously  spelled  eulachon,  eulachan,  hoolacan, 
oolachon,  ootachon,  etc.,  and  is  corrupted  by  the  English  settlers  at 
Victoria,  into  hoolakins. 
The  fish  is  also  frequently  confounded  with  other  species,  and  in 
Oregon  is  generally  known  as  smelt.  Its  habitat  is  the  northern  part 
of  the  Pacific  ocean.  In  spring  it  approaches  the  shores  to  deposit 
its  spawn,  entering  the  bays  and  estuaries  in  countless  numbers.  It 
never  goes  far  from  the  Ocean  however,  although  multitudes  of  the 
fish  are  taken  near  the  mouths  of  the  large  rivers,  particularly  in  Fra- 
zier's  river  and  in  the  Naas. 
The  candle  fish  is  less  than  a  foot  in  length.  It  is  described  as  hav- 
ing a  somewThat  pointed  and  conical  head,  a  large  mouth,  teeth  on  the 
pharyngeals,  and  the  tongue  rough  ;  the  lower  jaw,  palatines,  and  vomer 
destitute  of  teeth.  Its  color  is  greenish  yellow  on  the  back,  passing 
into  silvery  wdiite  on  the  sides  and  belly,  sparsely  spotted  with  dirty 
yellow.  The  spawning  season  is  in  April  and  the  first  half  of  May. 
During  their  run  they  furnish  food  not  only  to  the  Indians,  but  to 
thousands  of  sharks,  halibut,  porpoises,  and  other  predatory  fish.  As 
a  pan  fish  the  eulachon  is  said  to  have  no  superior,  but  the  fish  is  valued 
chiefly  for  its  oil,  which  is  used  as  food  by  the  Indians.  So  rich  in 
oil  is  the  entire  fish  that  when  dried,  it  serves  the  natives  for  torches, 
1  Analytical  Department,  Laboratory,  Parke,  Davis  &  Co. 
