EXTRACT  OF  COD  LIVER. 
141 
bile  constituents  and  inorganic  elements  which  distinguish  cod 
liver  oil  from  all  other  animal  oils  and  fats  ;  and  I  challenge  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  to  determine  by  analysis  the  value  of 
that  assertion.  To  this  the  Society  reply,  that  although  they 
consider  it  their  duty  to  undertake  the  analysis  of  such  prepara- 
tions as  would  appear  to  come  short  of  the  pretensions  *of  their 
authors,  it  is  no  concern  of  theirs  to  analyze  those  that  seem 
likely  to  prove  genuine  ;  in  other  words,  their  province  is  to  con- 
demn, but  never  to  approve !  It  was  meritorious  in  them  to  pro- 
claim to  the  world  by  Dr.  Attffeld  that  Le  Thiere's  "  cod  liver 
oil  powder  "  was  an  imposture,  because  it  contained  no  traces  of 
chlorine,  iodine,  bromine,  sulphur  and  phosphorus ;  but  it  would 
be  contrary  to  their  policy  to  undertake  an  analysis  which  might 
result  in  showing  that  Guffroy's  cod  liver  extract  was  a  product 
peculiarly  rich  in  those  and  other  important  bodies. 
With  regard  to  that  part  of  the  subject  which  was  admitted  to 
be  wholly  beyond  the  province  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society — 
namely,  the  remedial  properties  of  the  extract,  I  must  protest 
against  the  unfairness  of  the  proposal  made  by  the  Chairman, 
Mr.  Hills,  that  an  individual  member  of  the  Pharmaceutical  So- 
ciety (Mr.  Squire)  who,  as  well  as  Mr.  Hills,  is  a  manufacturer 
and  vendor  of  cod  liver  oil,  should  "  induce  a  medical  friend  to 
make  some  experiments  with  the  extract,  and  report  to  the  So- 
ciety." 
Mr.  Squire's  medical  friend  to  experiment  in  private  with  cod 
liver  extract  privately  prepared  by  that  gentleman,  who  has  only 
recently  heard  of  the  substance,  and  is  evidently  not  master  of 
the  process  of  making  it,  in  order  that  the  Pharmaceutical  So- 
ciety might  arrive  at  a  knowledge  of  the  medicinal  value  of  the 
extract  prepared  by  M.  Guffroy,  who  has  devoted  six  years  to 
the  practical  study  of  the  subject.  !  !  ! 
But  the  medical  experiments  suggested  by  Mr.  Hills  have  al- 
ready been  made.  Not  to  mention  those  that  have  been  going 
on  for  five  years  on  the  Continent,  extensive  trials  of  Guffroy's 
drage'es  of  cod  liver  extract  have,  during  the  last  six  months, 
been  made  in  London.  At  St.  Mark's  Hospital,  where  my  re- 
quest for  experiments  with  the  extract  was  received  in  a  liberal 
spirit  by  Mr.  Gowlland,  one  of  the  surgeons  of  that  institution, 
