IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING THE LIVERS OF SALT WATER FISH
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Constant Joseph Guffroy, of Lille, Town in
the French Empire, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PREPARING THE LIVERS OF SALT WATER FISH."-A communication from
Augustin Joseph Despinoy, resident at Lille, in the French Empire.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Constant Joseph
Guffroy at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 20th July 1860.
1, CHARLES CONSTANT JOSEPH GUFFROY, of Lille, Town in the French
Empire, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING THE LIVERS OF SALT WATER FISH," (communicated
to me by Augustin Joseph Despinoy, resident at Lille, in the French Empire,)
to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to obtain a concentrated extract from the
liver of salt water fish. The liver of fish, such as cod, from which oil is or may
be extracted possessing chemical and medicinal properties, contains in addition
to the oil a solid substance, the parenchyma, and a watery liquid. The latter
have hitherto been thrown aside or simply used as manure.
Now I have
discovered that they retain a considerable portion of the chemical elements.
which give the value to the oil. I extract and obtain from them a new
substance in a state of paste or nearly solid, containing in a high degree all the
active and medicinal properties of the oil. I proceed as follows:-I carefully
separate the liquid from the solid residuum by decantation or otherwise.

page_text: I next evaporate the liquid either over a slow fire in a bain marie, or water
bath, by a coil of pipes containing steam or water in open pans or under a
vacuum, or otherwise, until the liquid, thickening in proportion to the
evaporation, has acquired or assumed a state of stiff paste. From 100 lbs. of
liquid I obtain about 10 or 12 lbs. of paste. During the evaporation the
albumen contained in the liquid coagulates and floats on the surface. It is
better it should be skimmed off, though not absolutely necessary. The paste
can be formed into pills, and in this state will not be so disagreeable to take
as cod liver oil. Even exposed to the air this form of preparation will
preserve its medicinal properties almost indefinitely.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Constant Joseph Guffroy, in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 18th January 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
CONSTANT JOSEPH GUFFROY, of Lille, Town in the French Empire, Merchant,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Charles Constant Joseph Guffroy, Her special licence that I, the said Charles
Constant Joseph Guffroy, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Charles Constant Joseph Guffroy, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING THE LIVERS OF SALT WATER FISH,"
(a communication from Augustin Joseph Despinoy, resident at Lille, in the
French Empire,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles
Constant Joseph Guffroy, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the
Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles
do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say:-
The object of this Invention is to obtain a concentrated extract from the
livers of salt water fish. The liver of the cod fish, squalus, thornback, ray, or
any other fish which is or may be used for the purpose of extracting therefrom
oils on account of their medicinal and chemical properties, contains not only oil,
but also a solid substance which forms its parenchyma, and a liquid or watery
substance, which is found intimately mixed or combined with both the fatty
matter and the solid matter or parenchyma. In all processes heretofore
practised for the extraction of the oil from the liver these two substances
accompanying the oil have been left as a residue and thrown away or used as a
manure. This Invention is based upon the discovery that this residue contains
a much more considerable proportion of those chemical elements which impart
to the oil its precious qualities than the oil itself; and I have succeeded in
extracting and obtaining from the residue a new substance in a state of paste,
or in a nearly solid state, which contains to a much greater extent all the
medicinal properties and other useful qualities of the oil. I prepare the
extract in the following manner:-I first carefully separate the liquid
substance from the solid residue. This I effect either by decantation, filtra-
tion, or otherwise. I then take the liquid mass and evaporate it until it
acquires the consistency of tough paste. This may be done directly over a
slow fire by means of a hot water bath, or by causing steam or hot water to
circulate through a worm or coil placed inside the boiler or vessel containing
the liquid. The evaporation may be carried on in the open air or in vacuo.
In this way I obtain from ten to fifteen pounds of the paste from every hundred
pounds of the liquid. During the operation the albumen contained in the
liquid coagulates and floats on the surface in snow-like scum; this can be
removed or left at will in the paste. If the albumen is removed the paste is
obtained of a brown color, and is more hygrometrical; if, on the contrary, the
albumen is left, it is firmer, clearer, of a yellowish fawn color, and less
bygrometrical.
The paste obtained in manner before described has the smell and taste of
cod liver oil, but it contains a much greater proportion of those chemical
elements which impart to the oil its well known medicinal properties. It is of
an acid character, and is perfectly soluble in water and alcohel. The con-
sistency of the paste allows of its being made into pills, pastiles, and other
solid forms, which may be taken by the sick and others with the greatest

page_text: facility. It may be preserved almost indefinitely without injuring its qualities,
even when exposed to the open air. Owing to its hygrometric property it is
advisable to coat the paste in the form of pills or otherwise with a resinous
coating; and this can be done by dipping in a solution of balm, such as
Peruvian balsam or balsam of tola, and withdrawing the substance imme-
diately, and allowing it to dry.
Whatever process may be employed for the extraction of the oil, the waters
proceeding from it can in all cases be used to extract my new material.
However I will describe a process which produces the best extract at the same
time that t produces the best quality of oil. I take livers which have not
been submitted to fermentation, and also as fresh as possible, and put them
into a boiler, and allow them to heat under a slow fire or in a bain marie, or
by steam, and continually stir them during the process. When the parenchyma
or cellular tissue of the livers is destroyed, and the mass forms a boiling pulp,
well mixed and to all appearance homogeneous, I throw the whole on a sieve
or into a cullender, which retains the solid residue, and allows the liquid,
which is composed of oil and water, to pass through. The oil and water
become separated on being allowed to settle in the receiver, on account of the
difference in their specific gravity. After resting a sufficient time I decant.
By this means an oil pure and white is obtained, as well as waters purified of
all material in suspension, and containing nothing but the elements in solution
composing the extract. These waters are afterwards treated by evaporation,
as before stated. The solid part remaining on the sieve has the oil and water
extracted from it either by pressure or by boiling it again with a small
quantity of water.
And baving now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the preparation of
the livers of salt water fish in order to obtain therefrom a new substance, being
a concentrated medicinal extract, substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Constant Joseph Guffroy, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of January, One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
CHI. C. J. GUFFROY. (L..S.)