THE 
AMERICAN  JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY, 
JANUARY,  1856. 
CONVENIENT  MODES  FOR  ADMINISTERING   COD-LIVER  OIL. 
By  J.  M.  Maisch. 
Cod-liver  oil  has,  for  most  patients,  who  are  advised  to  take  it, 
an  unpleasant  odor  and  disagreeable  taste,  in  such  a  degree,  as 
to  cause  an  aversion  of  the  palate  and  nausea  of  the  stomach. 
Children,  although,  at  first,  disgusted  with  its  taste,  usually  be- 
come accustomed  to  it,  and  even  find  it  pleasant  and  agreeable  : 
but  adults,  in  many  cases,  cannot  overcome  the  aversion,  no 
matter  whether  they  take  the  oil  with  bitters,  peppermint,  muci- 
lage, milk  or  brown  stout  or  porter.  To  avoid  the  nauseous  taste, 
Deschamps  in  1843,  proposed  a  cod-liver  oil  soap  to  be  prepared 
of  60  parts  of  the  oil,  8  parts  of  caustic  soda  and  2  of  water. 
This  soap  is  given  in  pills,  but  it  is  evident  that  in  order  to 
administer  the  oil  in  a  proper  dose,  the  patient  would  have  to 
take  a  large  number  of  pills,  about  sixty,  each  weighing  four  grs., 
might  be  considered  equal  to  a  teaspoonful  of  the  oil.  Syrups 
of  cod-liver  oil  have  been  recommended  by  Duclos  and  by  Mou- 
chon,  which  consist  of  emulsions  of  the  oil  with  gum  arabic  and 
water  or  peppermint  water,  to  which  simple  syrup  or  syrup 
of  gum  arabic  is  added.  Both  syrups  do  not  cover  much  of  the 
unpleasantness  of  the  oil,  and  have  the  material  disadvantage  of 
being  bulky  and  liable  to  spoil. 
Being  called  upon,  I  attempted  to  find  out  a  mode  of  prepar- 
ing the  oil,  which  would  combine  the  advantages  of  correcting 
its  nauseousness,  and  having  it  in  a  bulk  as  small  as  possible, 
without  much  liability  to  undergo  unfavorable  changes  on  keeping 
the  preparation  for  a  reasonable  time.    The  following  formula,  I 
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