Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  > 
Aug.  1,1871.  ; 
Notes  on  Bird  Oils. 
363 
quite  absent  ;  but  that  fact,  amongst  many  others,  only  serves  to 
distinguish  them  still  more  certainly  from  blood. 
My  general  conclusion  is  that  it  is  the  fault  of  the  experimenter 
himself,  if,  except  in  a  few  special  cases,  he  fails  to  recognize  a  blood- 
stain containing  only  the  hundredth  of  a  grain  of  blood,  and  if  he  do 
not  easily  recognize  one  that  has  been  kept  dry,  even  for  a  period  of 
fifty  years.  For  a  description  of  the  method  to  be  employed  in  vari- 
ous cases,  I  refer  to  my  paper  on  this  subject  in  Guys  Hospital  Re- 
ports^ 3d  series,  vol.  xv.,  1870,  p.  274,  and  to  Dr.  Letheby's  paper 
in  the  third  volume  of  the  London  Hospital  Reports.  Of  course,  I 
do  not  pretend  to  say  that  human  blood  can  be  thus  distinguished 
from  that  of  other  animals,  but  I  unhesitatingly  say  that  we  can  dis- 
tinguish Mood  from  all  other  animal  and  vegetable  coloring  matters. — 
The  Medical  Press,  May  31,  1871. 
NOTES  ON  BIRD  OILS. 
By  p.  L.  Simmonds. 
Among  the  animal  oils  or  fats,  that  of  birds  has  been  the  least  in- 
vestigated, probably  because  it  is  so  seldom  met  with  in  commerce, 
and  yet  there  are  some  quarters  where  various  kinds  have  economic 
and  medicinal  uses.  Goose  grease  is  perhaps  the  only  one  which 
with  us  has  a  domestic  reputation  as  an  emollient  for  chapped  hands, 
etc.  As  Mr.  Stanford  has  recently  drawn  attention  to  the  fulmar 
oil  in  the  Journal,  a  few  notes  as  to  the  uses  and  commerce  in  other 
oils  or  fats  from  birds  may  probably  lead  to  further  investigations 
and  a  careful  examination  of  any  useful  properties  they  may  possess. 
The  Penguin  (Diomadia  chilensis)  in  the  Falkand  Islands  is  chiefly 
sought  after  for  its  oil,  deriving  its  name  from  its  pinguidity  or  ex- 
cessive fatness.  On  the  islands  of  the  Falkland  group  these  birds  are 
found  in  millions,  and  schooners,  with  a  gang  of  twelve  or  fifteen  men, 
go  there  solely  for  boiling  down  the  oil  of  the  birds.  The  fat  of 
eleven  birds  skimmed  gives  about  one  gallon  of  oil,  and  each  schooner 
or  gang  of  men  will  return  to  Stanley,  after  a  month  or  six  weeks' 
campaign,  with  from  25,000  to  30,000  gallons  of  oil.  This  oil,  which 
comes  chiefly  to  London,  is  used,  I  believe,  for  currying  leather  only. 
I  have  sent  Mr.  Stanford  and  the  museum  of  the  Society  specimens 
of  this  oil.  It  varies  in  color  according  to  the  time  it  has  been 
boiled. 
