366 
Cod  Liver  Oil. 
Am.  Jour.  Pliarm. 
July,  1890. 
principal  consumers,  and  that  they  are  often  better  digested  ;  further, 
the  objection  is  sometimes  raised  that  the  brown  oils  may  be  the 
product  from  altered  livers. 
The  authors  describe  the  preparation  of  the  oil  in  Newfoundland 
and  Bergen.  The  fresh  livers  heated  to  about  6o°  C,  either  in  a 
water-bath  or  in  the  presence  ol  steam,  yield  an  oil  which,  filtered 
through  flannel,  constitutes  the  white  oil.  If  the  livers  are  not 
treated  immediately,  they  quickly  undergo  a  commencement  of 
fermentation,  or  rather  of  auto-digestion,  which  is  not  a  putrid  or 
ammoniacal  fermentation  under  the  influence  of  bacteria,  for  the 
mass  does  not  become  alkaline  or  rancid,  but  acquires  an  acidity 
that  amounts  to  0-4  to  o-8  gram  of  monohydrated  sulphuric  acid  per 
kilogram.  The  envelopes  of  the  hepatic  cells  are  broken  and  partly 
liquefied  and  the  minute  drops  of  fat  from  the  hepatic  tissue  saturate 
more  and  more  the  colored  substances  that  exist  in  the  liver.  The 
ferments  of  the  biliary  parenchyma  determine  an  action  comparable 
to  the  lactic  and  butyric  acidification  of  flesh  after  the  cessation  of 
life.  The  oil  obtained  under  these  conditions,  after  some  hours'  or 
days'  standing  of  the  livers,  is  pale  colored  or  brown,  and  it  owes 
its  color  and  greater  activity  to  the  biliary  matters  that  it  holds  in 
solution.  It  requires  days,  and  even  weeks,  before  the  livers,  left  to 
themselves,  undergo  putrid  fermentation  in  the  cold  countries  where 
the  industry  is  carried  on. 
The  residue  from  this  first  treatment  is  subjected  to  boiling  with 
water,  but  the  oil  so  obtained  is  thick,  dark  and  rancid,  and  has  a 
fetid  odor ;  it  is  employed  for  industrial  purposes,  not  in  pharmacy. 
It  follows  therefore  that  the  pale  colored  and  brown  oils,  properly 
manufactured,  are  not  derived  from  livers  tainted  by  putrid  fermenta- 
tion, and  their  great  activity  is  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  fatty 
matter  is  charged  with  biliary  principles  to  which  reference  will  be 
made  subsequently.  This  was  the  conclusion  arrived  at  also  by  De 
Jongh. 
It  must  not  be  lost  sight  of,  however,  that  in  special  cases,  the 
white  oil  may  be  preferable,  not  only  because  it  is  better  tolerated, 
but  also  because  it  contains  a  larger  proportion  of  phosphorus  and 
extractive  matters,  to  which  the  authors,  like  others,  attribute  a 
great  part  of  the  efficacy  of  cod  liver  oil  in  the  reconstitution  of  the 
system. 
In  operating  for  the  separation  of  the  alkaloidal  and  other  prin- 
