Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-10-11
COD LIVER OIL.
How they Make and How Adulte.
rate 1t.

From the Cape Cod Correspondence NY Evening Post
Long before these lectures were delivered,
however Capt. Atwood had exchanged the toll
sc-.c life OF fisherman for more congenial
and lucrative occupation on shore. Sailing into
Boston one morning in 1S49, with q cargo OF
fresh cod he found that cod iiyers had advanced
in price from twenty cents a bucket to thirty
seven and half, and inquirihg into the cause,
found that cod-liver oil before used only by cur
riers, was fast coming into use as a remedy for
pulmonary complaints. This he thought was
business suited his capacity. and he asked the
manufacturers druggist named Southmavd-
how he prepared the oil. The latter told him
that Intricate chemical processes were empoyed,
but on his applying to his learned friends to
know what these might be, they assured him
that care and cleanliness were the chief essen
tials and advised him to embark i'm the business
His first venture was in a small vessel to the
coast of Labrador from which he returned with
800 gallons of oil. This he disposed OF at high
figure to Joseph Burnett. who agreed to take all
he could make. After this Capt. Atwood sailed
no more in quest of livers, but established him.
self at Provincetown, and had them brought to
him. His oil was taken as fast as made, at first
at the large wholesale dealers in Boston, but OF
late 1t has become so well known that 1t is taken
entirely by consumers. Calling on him one day
/ found him in his shop filing some bottles to be
business.
"There is no product more frequently adul.
terated than cod liver oil. he began as the last
bottle was put away. "Rogues can mix it with
oil from the livers of most any fish and escape
detection. Oil of the dog fish is chiefly used
however. Then 1t is often improperly made.
Here are thirty kinds of fish oil" opening the
door of a small closet. THAT gained a medal at
our Centennial exhibition This clear, prettiy
tinted oil is from the squid, the only mollusk
that yields OIL These three bottles have stood
on my shelves twelve years. Two of them you
see is nearly half full OF sediment and have q
thick scum on the surface. The animal matter
was not fully removed. The third, of my manu-
facture, has stood nearly as long. and has but a
modicum Of sediment. This specimen,
put up for the Spanish market, is
simply curriers' oil. l manufacture onlv
in the winter, from December until March.
In December the fishermen begin to take cod on
the coast, and bring them into Herring Cove,
just across the cape every day. There they clean
them and the livers come to me fresh and sweet
The process of extracting the Oil is not an elab-
crate one. and | allow any one to see it that
wishes. They are first washed clean. then put
into two kettles holding forty-1ve and sixty gal.
Ions. respectively. / build moderate fire be-
meath them. and as the livers cook reduce them
to pulp by stirring. In three or four hours the
Oil has risen to the top, and skim it off and
pass 1t through a strainer into barrel. The
barrel, when full, stands in my store month or
two to settle: then we draw it off and chill it
that is. we force it under pressure through linen
bags of double thickness, thus making it lighter
and removing every trace of sediment 1t is
then ready for bottling, and is warranted to
stand on druggists shelves for years without
settling"