Treatment Of Disease


Treatment Of Disease. PART II.

22. Cod-Liver Oil.

THE value of this agent in the treatment of many constitutional diseases is amply confirmed by long experi…


PART II.

22. Cod-Liver Oil.

THE value of this agent in the treatment of many constitutional diseases is amply confirmed by long experience It should be regarded as food rather than medicine, although the minute amount of Iodine and Phosphorus it contains may account for its curative virtues in many cases in which cod-liver-oil has been the only remedy given.

The complaints in which cod-liver oil is of service need not be here enumerated, as it is prescribed in numerous instances in the following pages. We may however, state that it is especially valuable in the various forms of tubercular disease-chronic discharge from the ears, Ophthalmia, enlargement of the glands, Tubercular disease of the bones, Tubercular Abscesses, etc., and in short, in all diseases which require fatty substances as food, and Iodine as a remedy. Its assimilation is promoted, and its beneficial action greatly enhanced, by the addition of ten drops of the first dilution of Iodium to each pint of the oil. This addition is especially recommended in Phthisis Pulmonalis, and Atrophy.

In the treatment of Consumption, it stand pre-eminent, by almost universal consent; when given in suitable cases, its power in checking emaciation and raising the tone of the muscular structures is well known. Other forms of fat (cream, etc.) have also great value.

The value of cod-liver oil is often very marked in the sequelae of many acute disease or inflammations occurring in middle-aged and in old persons in whom the reparative powers are less active than in children; also in the after-effects of the acute fevers of children who have suffered, previous to such attacks, from impoverished health,-as chronic discharge from the ears and nose after Scarlet Fever and Measles; the after stages of Whooping- cough; Rickets; Chorea, etc., are generally much benefited by the administration of cod-liver oil. Chronic Rheumatism and Gout, chronic Bronchitis, colour skin diseases, and the degenerative diseases of the aged, are all more or less benefited by the employment of this great.

CAUTION.- Cod-liver oil should not, however, be administered indiscriminately. It is generally inadmissible during the persistence of acute febrile-symptoms, congestion, haemoptysis, or any active form of disease; digestion is then impaired, the mucous membrane irritable, and the oil is only likely to occasion disorder. The sphere of cod-liver oil is to remove exhaustion and increase general tone; this is best accomplished when active morbid processes and local irritation have subsided, for then the system is in a condition to appropriate a larger amount of nourishment.

Some caution is necessary to be observed in the administration of oil to obviate nausea or eructations. Such effects generally result from the quantity or quality of the oil used. The large quantity of oil taken in some cases occasions disorder of the digestive mucous membrane, or it passes off with the evacuations. The appearance of any oil unchanged in the evacuations is a sign that the quantity should be reduced, as more is given than can be digested. We generally recommended it at first, in teaspoonful doses, twice a day, with, or immediately after, food; if the stomach be intolerant of it, a teaspoonful, or for young children, ten or twelve drops, once a day. If there be still difficulty in retaining the oil, we prescribe it at bedtime, just as the patient is lying down to sleep. In cases of extreme irritability of the stomach, cod-liver oily may be introduced into the system by friction; a considerable amount of friction, as much as the patient can bear, facilitates absorption. When intolerance is really marked the attempt to administer cod-liver oil should be abandoned and reliance placed upon other fat foods, while in addition, Iodine, Phosphorus, or whatever drug seems best indicated can be given.

The disagreeable effects of oil, and the repugnance felt towards it, ave often been created by inferior and disgusting preparations. Probably the best method of rendering the oil palatable is to have it made up in bread, as it is then scarcely tasted. The proper proportion is two to four tablespoonfuls of the oil to one pound of dough. Small pieces of ice in each dose of oil also render it almost tasteless.

Claret or ginger wine are other vehicles for cod-liver oil. The oil should be poured upon the wine, so that it does not touch the glass, but floats on the wine as a large globule, in which way it may be swallowed without taste. A few morsels of agreeable food should then be eaten. A yet further plan to obviate taste and nausea is to take a pinch of salt immediately before and after the oil. And if the fish be not unsuitable, one or two teaspoonfuls may be given with a sardine, the oil being poured over in the absence of the child or patient. The modern preparations in the form of Emulsions are much more palatable than the ordinary oil.

23.- Food for Infants, Invalids, etc.

BEEF-TEA. – Put half a pound (or a pound, according to the strength required) of rump-steak, cut up into small pieces (shreds for preference), into a covered tin or copper saucepan, with one pint of cold water. Let this stand by the side of the fire for three or four hours, and let it then simmer gently for one hour. Skim well, and serve. If grease be specially repugnant the last traces may then be removed by lightly skimming the surface with pieces of blotting paper.

The meat used should be as fresh as possible-the fresher the better-and should be cleared beforehand of all fat or gristle. If this precaution be neglected, a greasy taste is given to the beef-tea, which cannot afterwards be removed, except by the above method, or by allowing it to become cold. The saucepan used should be made of copper or tin; iron saucepans should not be used, unless enamelled. In re-warming beef-tea which has been left to cool, care must be taken to warm the tea up to the point at which it is to be served, and no higher;l it should on no account be allowed to boil. When once allowed to get cold, it never regains the agreeable flavour it possessed when fresh.

ESSENCE OF BEEF.- Druitt directs its preparation as follows- Take a pound of lean beef, free from skin, bone and fat; chop it up; put it into a large earthen jar with cover; cement the edges with flour paste; tie it up tightly in a cloth; put it into a saucepan, and let it boil for two hours; pour off the liquid essence from the coagulated muscles; let it stand till cold; skim off the fat. This contains a large quantity of nutriment, is generally pleasant to the palate, and is particularly valuable in extreme exhaustion. A few teaspoonfuls may be given every three or four hours.

SKINNER’S LIQUID BEEF.- This is a very excellent preparation recommended by Dr. Skinner. The directions for preparing it are as follows-

Take one pound of rump-steak (gravy beef will not do, as it jellifies, and is not so easily digested as rumpsteak), remove the fat and membranous portions, cut the muscular fibre into pieces the size of a dice, and pack it into the empty jar. The jar many be filled to the top it there is enough of the meat. Before putting on the lid place a piece of calico or muslin over the bottom of the lid in order to ensure its being as water-, air, and steam-tight as possible. Place the jar in an open pot of cold water, bring it slowly to the boil, and then let it boil for half an hour the Liquid Beef is then ready. Undo the lid, and pour out the contents. At first an oily, yellowish fluid passes, and then a thick, grumous-looking fluid. These two constitute what I call my Liquid Beef. Lastly, pour into the jar sufficient hot water just to cover the remains of the meat, stir it round with a spoon, and pour off the liquid portion into a cup. This is very good beef-tea, which may be taken by itself, or added to the Liquid Beef. Taste what remains in the jar, and it will be found to be destitute of flavour, and to have no aroma of meat boiled cork-shavings is as near it as anything.

The quantity obtainable from a pound of rump-steak is small of the Liquid Beef, about half a teacupful, but it is extremely palatable and life-sustaining, as well as nourishing. All that it requires is a little salt added, to the taste of the patient. It will be observed that there is no water or salt, or anything added to the jar containing the muscular fibre-nothing but the meat alone.- See Homoeopathic World, vol. xxiv., p. 445.

COLD BEEF EXTRACT.- Take one pound of fresh beef, free from fat, chop it up fine, and pour over it eight ounces of soft water, add five or six drops of hydrochloric acid, and fifty or sixty grains of common salt, stir it well and leave it for three hours in a cool place. Then pass the fluid through a hair sieve, pressing the meat slightly, and adding gradually towards the end of the straining about two more ounces of water. The liquid thus obtained is of a red colour, tasting like soup. It should be taken cold, a teacupful at a time. If preferred warm it must not be put on the fire, but warmed in a covered vessel placed in hot water.

Edward Harris Ruddock
Ruddock, E. H. (Edward Harris), 1822-1875. M.D.
LICENTIATE OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS; MEMBER OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS; LICENTIATE IN MIDWIFERY, LONDON AND EDINBURGH, ETC. PHYSICIAN TO THE READING AND BERKSHIRE HOMOEOPATHIC DISPENSARY.

Author of "The Stepping Stone to Homeopathy and Health,"
"Manual of Homoeopathic Treatment". Editor of "The Homoeopathic World."