Improvements in the Manufacture of Cod-liver Oil.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Sept., 1890-Accepted, 8th Nov., 1890
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Cod-liver Oil.
I CHRISTIAN ALBERT JENSEN of 77 Chancery Lane, in the County of London,
Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a communication to
me from abroad by Peter Möller of Christiania in the Kingdom of Norway, Cod Liver
Oil Manufacturer) and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to the manufacture of cod liver oil and more especially to the
process in said manufacture, whereby the oil contained in the natural liver is caused
to separate from the more solid substances of the liver.
As is well known this process is effected by heating the fresh liver to a moderate
temperature, either by means of steam, direct or indirect, or by fire or in some other
suitable manner. It is also very well known that the quality of product obtained
depends largely upon the length of time used for separating the oil from the cellular
substances of the liver, as well as upon the degree of temperature applied, in such
manner, that the highest grade of oil is obtained, when the temperature has been the
lowest possible and the process of the shortest possible duration.
Now, it is a matter of experience, that the cod liver oil so obtained can never he
quite freed from an unpleasant taste however careful the process above named has
been accomplished and whatever process of refining the oil is submitted to afterwards.
From this reason the use of cod liver oil in medicine has been more limited than it
ought to be in view of its superior qualities, as several persons can not bear this taste
at all.
Up to the present time it has not been possible to find out what the source of this
unpleasant taste is and the present inventor has therefore spent several years in making
experiments in order to disclose the chemical properties of cod liver oil in different
respects. In the course of these experiments it was found, that the cod liver oil as
obtained in the above mentioned manner, contained substances, which were strange
to the natural oil as contained in the liver; especially it was found that the oil
contained an astonishing quantity of oxy-acids. As however by several parallel
experiments not only very great, but also variable figures (30-40) were obtained the
inventor had reason to believe that the oxy-acids were formed partly during the
experiments, and that their existence was due to the combined action of the air and
the heat.
Then the same experiments were made but in a closed vessel from which the air had
been expelled by forcing therein an inert gas, such as carbonic acid or hydrogen into
the vessel. By several parallel experiments a much lower figure (2) was then found
and in all instances exactly the saine figure. This result convinced the inventor that
his presumption was correct, that the oxy-acids were formed during the heating process
under the action of the air. By trials it was also found that if fresh cod liver were
treated in the usual manner but in a closed vessel, from which the air was expelled by
forcing an inert gas into the same, a cod liver oil was obtained which by analysis gave
a figure very nearly equal to 0 as to proportion of oxy-acids.
According to the above this invention therefore consists in making the vessel or
vessels in which the cod liver is heated to give off its contents of oil, air tight and
alter the vessels are charged with liver, hydrogen or carbonic acid or other inert fluid
is forced into them, so that the air is expelled. The heating operation is now performed
in one of the usual ways and also the refining &c., nothing being necessary to alter in
the manner of procedure with the exception of the exclusion of air, when the liver
or oil is being heated.
It will be understood that this invention may be applied to already existing plants
of different systems without incurring great expense, as in most cases the old vats

page_text: may be used when provided with airtight covers and connected with pipes for charging
them with gas and for expulsion of air.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
In the manufacture of cod liver oil the exclusion of air from the vessels, in which
the liver is heated to give off the oil contained thorein or in which the oil is heated
said exclusion of air being performed by expelling the same by forcing an inert gas
or fluid into the vessels whereby the oxydation of the fatty acids is prevented.
Dated this 2nd day of Quitom 1800
JENSEN & SON,
77, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Patent Agents.
JENSEN & SON,
77, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Patent Agents.