The St. Johns herald., 1889-11-21
ABOUT cop-LIvER OIL.
According to Two Authorities Most of It
 Is Cotton Seed.

According to Two Authorities Most of It
 Is Cotton Seed.
 sWhat are the various brands of cod-liver oil usually adulterated with?'
 'fCotton-seed oil is more used than any other ingredient, as it is compar- atively harmless and costs only about one-quarter as much as the genuine cod-liver oil. There may be other oils used, but if so I do not know what they are. The largest quantities of cod-liver oil in bulk are shipped di- rect from the Down East fishing ports to New Ydk."
 A Brooklyn manufacturer of pure cod-liver oil gave the reporter many interesting facts concerning it
 ''The great trouble in getting pure cod-liver oil," said he, ''is that the fishermen on the Grand Banks are careless and throw diseased livers right in with the healthy ones. It is well-known fact that the dogfsh, by its bite or by thrust of the sharp bone needle which, like a lancet, lies concealed just back of its dorsal fin, can poison cod so that its liver becomes putri- fled and the fish eventually dies. The fishermen make no distinction be- tween these diseased livers and those taken from a healthy fish. All go into the tubs together, and one diseased liver is enough to poison a whole cask of good ones. Moreover, every thing is fish that comes to their net, and they have no scruples against throw ing dog-fsh, haddock and all sorts of fish livers that have any oil in them right in with the cod flyers and trying them all out together.
 ''Is this impure stuff used for med icinal purposesP"
 ''I suppose it is, although I can not imagine how any refining process can make it fit for marketable purposes. l know that the pure oil is adulterated, for one man who bought three barrels of pure oil from me at S1.50 a gallon made ten barrels of adulterated stuff out of it, for which he obtained six dollars a gallon"
 "What did he use to adulterate it with?"
 'I can't say, for he didn't tell me, but l suppose it was cotton-seed oil. That is most generally used by men who wish to cheat. for its presence is very difficult of detection. All such adulterations are, of course, a swim dle, but question if they do as much harm as the genuine article, resulting from the trying out of good and dis eased flyers mixed together"
 How do you manage to get fresh, clean livers?"
 ''All of the livers used by me I care fully select from the fish brought di- rectly to the New York docks by the local fishing fleet. As the flyers are taken out and cleaned 1 inspect them to see that none but healthy ones get into my barrels A healthy cod's liver is plump and white, while those that have been poisoned by the dog fish-which, by the way, is the cod's natural enemy - are yellow and flabby."
 How do you try out your oil?"
 "The process is exceedingly sim pie. The livers are thrown into a clean tub, which is filled about two- thirds full A steam-p pipe is connect ed and run down into the mess. The steam is then turned on, and, in few minutes, the oil rises to the surface clean and sweet, but crude. It is then skinned off and put into another re- ceptacle. where it runs down through seven or eight closely-woven silk strainers into @ cask. When it reaches the cask it is thoroughly free from all impurities and perfectly pure. In this condition it will keep for years without changing in the least. The pure article does not fluctuate in price to any extent, whereas the im- pure and adulterated oil may be had at varying prices, according to its
 ! ID Il