" The active principle of Cod-Liver Oil is the oil itself. ’ ’—Muller. 
18B3-1892 
MOLLER’S 
Cod-Liver Oil: 
THK 
NEW PREPARATION. 
A BRIEF STORY OF A OR EAT DISCOVERY. 
W. II. Scliieffelin & Co., 
New York. 
l8()2. 
Presented with the compliments of RASMUS B. ANDERSON, L.L.D., late United States Minister to Denmark. OLEUM MORRHUCE. 
(MOLLER.) 
THE STORY OF A GREAT DISCOVERY. 
INTRODUCTORY. 
To insure a clear understanding of the recent remarkable event 
whose immediate result has been to place oleum morrhuce in the highest 
rank as a modern scientific product, it seems proper to review 
the important work which had previously been accomplished by 
the same house in preparing an oil suitable for thera- 
peutic use. We refer to “Peter Mbller’s Pure Cod-Liver 
Oil,” which, for the sake of convenience, we will call 
“the old oil,” while remembering that until the recent 
advent of “ the new oil ” it had for forty years retained its posi- 
tion in medicine as the 
“BEST PREPARATION OF COD-LIVER OIL.” 
Many years ago, Mr. Peter Mbller, of Christiania, Norway, believ- 
ing that the difficulties experienced by physicians in pursuing a treat- 
ment by Cod-Liver Oil, were almost wholly due to the improper 
preparation of that complex body, succeeded in wholly reforming 
the process of manufacture, and this has long been known as 
PETER MOLLER’S IMPROVED METHOD FOR THE EXTRACTION OF 
COD-LIVER OIL. 
Before the year 1853, Cod-Liver Oil was, in fact, no more than a 
crude product of domestic industry, difficult of ingestion and not 
well supported by patients, who, indeed, would not have touched it 
at all, had they known of the loathsome details of its preparation. 
Physicians, though in a measure aware of the objectionable features 
attendant upon its manufacture, and cognizant of its uneven quality 
and its tendency to injurious decomposition, continued, as a matter of 
necessity, to prescribe it, while regretting that they could not employ 
it in those cases in which it was most needed, that is, for those condi- 
tions of phthisis and struma in which the digestive organs were in a 
super-sensitive condition. Hence arose the more recent 
THE 
OLD 
OIL COD-LIVER OIL EMULSIONS. 
But of these mixtures, with their gums, sugar, essential oils, 
pepsins, and medicaments of various kinds, the patients finally sick- 
ened, while the physician, for obvious reasons, distinctly disapproved 
of them. He wisely objected to giving medicaments which were not 
indicated, and he often refused to load the stomach of the patient 
with essences and aromatics. 
Peter Moller, who had had, meanwhile, exceptional opportuni- 
ties for observing the details of the oil industry, felt that the 
OLD METHODS MUST BE WHOLLY REVOLUTIONIZED 
before a satisfactory oil could be produced. Recognizing the fact 
that a pure oil, properly made, is easily taken by a majority of 
patients, he felt that the basis of a rational improvement lay, primar- 
ily, in a proper mode of manufacture. To reform the habits of the 
fishermen was out of the question. It was necessary to take this part 
of the work wholly out of their hands. To insure success it was 
evidently necessary to 
PREPARE THE OIL ON A LARGE SCALE IN THE IMMEDIATE 
VICINITY OF THE FISHING GROUNDS. 
Well, the cod-liver oil from the Lofoten fish, while by far the 
best of the morrhuic oils, oxygenizes or decomposes rapidly under 
the influence of heat or exposure to the atmosphere. This serious 
impediment could only be obviated by finding a system suitable to 
the chemical properties of the substance. After repeated failures, 
PETER MOLLER FINALLY SUCCEEDED 
by means of the exterior application of steam. In this process the 
livers are taken from the fish and treated as soon as possible after 
being received. Small, bruised and diseased livers are rejected, and 
the selected livers are washed until free from blood, membrane and 
other impurities. They are then minced to a pulpy mass which is 
placed in an apparatus and heated externally by steam to the degree 
of ioo° to io2° Fah. The oil, as it exudes, is drawn off and filtered, 
which completes the process. Fresh livers and low temperatures gave 
A PURE, SWEET, LIGHT, BUT BRILLIANT YELLOW OIL. 
Very pale or colorless oils, however, are articles which have been 
subjected to deleterious bleaching processes. The darker oils are, 
without exception, prepared by the poorer fishermen, from the refuse of 
diseased or putrid livers, and are unfit for therapeutic use. The light 
oil, prepared for many years by Peter Moller was not a “refined” 
Article, but the pure, fresh oil as it existed 
IN THE HEPATIC CELLS OF THE LIVING FISH; 
hence its sweet taste, its digestibility and its consequent efficacious- 
ness. The success of Moller’s oil was unprecedented in the history of 
medicinal preparations. This afforded opportunity to unprinciplec imitators, but they succeeded only in producing an oil of a similar 
appearance to the Mdller product. The requisite care was not 
bestowed upon the choice of the livers, and the resultant oil was not 
comparable to the Moller product. The imitators then instituted 
proceedings for “doctoring” the oil. But 
THE INDIGESTIBILITY OF SUCII OILS 
and their injurious effects upon the system were only exaggerated by 
this unwise course, and cases of eructation and vomiting on the part 
of patients became so common that the reputation of cod-liver oil in 
therapeutics must have received a severe blow had not the labors of 
Peter Moller held this invaluable medicament up to its high stand- 
ard. And it is proper to state, in connection with these facts, that 
PETER SERVICES IN IMPROVING THE PREPARATION 
OF COD LIVER OIL 
were everywhere recognized by the profession as well as by the laity, 
while His Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway conferred upon 
him the orders of knighthood of Vasa and St. Olaf for his 
“SUCCESS IN PROMOTING THE INTERESTS OF AN IMPORTANT 
BRANCH OF NATIONAL INDUSTRY.” 
OLEUM MORRHU^. 
(MOLLER) 
THE PRESENT PREPARAT/ON 
Judging from the notes of laboratory work lately pre- 
sented by I)r. Moller, we believe we are not over-stating the 
matter when we sav that Mbller’s New Preparation of Cod- 
Liver Oil is the most important discovery—the utility 
of the substance considered—which has been made 
under the brilliant auspices of modern pharmacolog- 
ical research. 
THE PROPERTIES OF THE NEW OIL, 
together with some hints as to the lines followed out in order to 
obtain the results described, are briefly given in the following pages, 
the matter consisting mainly of abstracts of letters on the subject, 
lately received by us from the inventor. The few lines we have incor- 
porated were added solelv with a view to making the circumstances 
perfectly clear to the reader. 
THE 
NEW 
OIL We may state here that, although Dr. Moller has received for his 
preparation the protection of the Government of Sweden and Nor 
way, The New Oil is in No Sense a Secret Remedy, and A Full 
Scientific Report of the Matter is in course of preparation. 
CONSTITUENTS OF COD-LIVER OIL. 
What are the components of oleum morrhucel Dr. Moiler justly 
observes that, according to the researches of chemists prolonged 
through the last fifty or sixty years, at least ninety-five per cent, ol 
this composite body is made up of fats and fat acids to which thera- 
peutists have attributed no special curative power. Hence, the zeal- 
ous interrogations of most investigators have especially borne upon 
the remaining five per cent, of the oil in order to discover that sub 
stance, or compound, contained in it, which, if isolated, should repre- 
sent the oil in a concentrated form and finally supersede it. 
WIIAT DID THE CHEMISTS FIND ?' 
Iodine, bromine, phosphorous and sulphur were severally pro- 
claimed as being present. Then we had gaduinic acid, cholesterin, 
trimethylamine, phytosterin, various albuminates and analogous prin- 
ciples, and other compounds which the chemists obtained, or claimed 
to obtain. Later came the reports of Gautier and Mourgues, who 
presented a long list of “the ptomaines, leucomaines and acids” of 
cod-liver oil, so that the student of oleum morrhuce is still further puz- 
sled with a plexus of asselin, morrhuin, dihydrolutidin, morrhuic 
acid, etc., etc. 
But we know that during the ordinary processes of manufacture, 
as well as in the various manipulations of chemical analysis, the ob 
undergoes far-reaching decompositions and inter-molecular changes 
And these must largely account for the many “ wonderful substances ” 
found in oleum morrhuce, while presenting the best possible explana- 
tion of the diversity of the results obtained. 
THE IMPORTANT QUESTION IS: 
Can the investigators demonstrate that the substances they have 
isolated, really existed in the oil as found in the liver of the cod-fish ? 
They cannot do this. And the impossibility of doing so is still 
more strongly emphasized by the fact that up to the time of Muller’s 
recent discovery, no oil was ever prepared from cod-livers which pre- 
sented to the senses the characters of oil recently taken from fresh 
livers ; and none of it gave exactly the same therapeutic effects as 
the latter, though Muller’s oil, as prepared after his series of experi- 
ments—undertaken some years ago—undoubtedly approached more 
nearly to an absolutely perfect cod-liver oil than any previously or 
subsequently known preparation up to the date of this recently 
patented oil, AN INTERESTING CONSIDERATION 
arises from the foregoing statement of chemists that the medicinal 
virtues of the oil rested wholly in the chemical principles contained 
in only about five per cent, of it. Now, if this be really the case, how 
is it that these chemists and many of those who have accepted their 
conclusions, have from time to time prescribed the various forms of 
free oleic acid, olive oil, butter, etc., as substitutes for cod-liver oil ? 
Is it not natural to inquire how it is that the medicinal properties 
of cod-liver oil, being due to its various and complicated constituents, 
can possibly be replaced by substances which possess none of such 
components ? 
WHAT IS TIIE TRUTH OF THE MATTER? 
After an active experience, covering many years, in the chemical 
examination of cod-liver oil and in its practical preparation for the mar- 
kets of the world, Dr. Mdller became impressed with the fact—which 
finally grew into a settled conviction—that the composition of oleum 
morrhuie was not what the scientists had assumed it to be. lie writes: 
“I felt that although, through the labors and heavy expenditures of 
my father and myself, an oil had been produced which was greatly 
superior to any which had thus far been known, no oil had yet been 
made which had the extremely delicate and pleasant flavor of the oil 
as it is found in freshly boiled livers. None of the oil could positively 
be said to have no tendency whatever to create final nausea or 
aversion in patients having a super-sensitive digestive apparatus.” 
THE NATURAL CONCLUSION ' 
was, that a more thorough and accurate knowledge of the real nature 
of cod-liver oil must be had before a single step further in advance 
could be made. Holding these views, he now entered upon the erec- 
tion of a great laboratory department to which every modern appli- 
ance for chemical investigation was duly added. This portion of the 
work was placed under the immediate care of Mr. Peter Mdller 
Heyerdahl. 
TIIE RESEARCHES nERE UNDERTAKEN 
were full of difficulty, for the investigators had to do with one of th< 
most complex of organic substances, and one which had long defied 
analysis. These labors were continued, however, for upward of 
eleven years, and the reward came, finally, in full measure. To use 
the words of a recent observer, writing upon this subject; “The 
Present Investigators, Using New Methods, Came to Extremely 
Interesting and Highly Surprising Results.” The practical out- 
come of the experiments was, in fact, the production of 
AN ENTIRELY NEW COD-LIVER OIL. 
lighter in color, more fluid, more limpid, wholly free from the taste, 
the after-taste and the odor of even the better kinds of oil, and suited 
to the most delicate stomachs ; for its ingestion is followed by no sign of eructation or any of the disturbances liable to occur after the 
taking of other oils. The physicians of Copenhagen and of London 
are already enthusiastic over the oil for the reasons indicated, a-, also 
for the promptness and certainty of its therapeutic effects. They 
unite in saying that “the new oil possesses the very agreeable flavor of fresh 
boiled cod-livers,” a dish much esteemed by European gourmets. Some 
impression of the 
NATURE OF THE DIFFICULTIES 
first encountered, is gained by a consideration of the fact that, no 
matter how carefully cod-liver oil may be analyzed, or prepared 
for the market, some chemical changes must necessarily take place 
when the old processes are used. To prevent these changes, a 
thorough knowledge of the oil and its characters and reactions was 
requisite, for, as will be readily understood, the principles under- 
lying the manufacture of the new oil are based upon the 
REMOVAL OF THE CAUSES OF THOSE CHANGES. 
Hence, a very important step in advance was effected when it was 
definitely discovered, after years of patient research, that, in reality, 
THE CHIEF CONSTITUENTS OF THE OIL 
are not olein or palmitin or stearin, as had been incorrectly assumed 
by the analysts. “Some of these compounds,” says Dr. Mdller, “may, 
to a small extent, be present in the oil, but it is just as likely that 
they are not there at all.” The fat acids really in the oil, and chiefly 
constituting it, are, in his belief, unsaturated acids (or, rather, their 
glycerides), having either four double, or two triple bonds. “ The 
former,” says Dr. Mdller, “would make it of a group of acids which 
are only theoretically recognized. The latter would be of a class of 
which only the lowest homologue — diacetylenemonocarboxylic 
acid—is known. Heyerdahl thinks that four of these acids are 
present in the oil. The chief of them belongs to the acetylene series, 
noted for the readiness with which they form new compounds with 
monad atoms, by which new members of the saturated compounds 
arise. Hydroxyl is one of them, which, if added to these unsaturated 
acids would convert them into the corresponding oxyacids.” 
THE DISCOVERY OF THESE PECULIAR ACIDS 
gave an explicit explanation of the puzzling behavior of cod-liver oil. 
“Heyerdahl,” says Dr. Mdller, “found that the hydroxyls entered 
into the compounds in increasing numbers as he progressed.” 
THE DETERMINATION OF THE HYDROXYLS 
was effected by ascertaining the acetylic equivalent, which, though 
variable, was always high. Disturbing influences were encountered 
which evidently arose from the sensitiveness of the acids to the 
oxygen of the air, so all of the experiments were repeated in currents 
of hydrogen. The saponification of the oil, the preparation of the acids, and the acetylization of the washings, were performed under 
the same precautions, which were continued during the determination 
of tiie equivalent of saponification and the titration. 
TIIE RESULT WAS CONSTANT, 
but it was different from what it had been before, the acetylic equiva- 
lent being much lowered. For so-called stearin, similar results 
were obtained. These facts ascertained, it was obvious that the 
preparation of cod-liver oil, as hitherto carried out must be very deficient. 
Finally, during the season preceding 1890, Heyerdahl further experi- 
mented with the preparation of oil in currents of various gases. 
• HE FINALLY SUCCEEDED 
in producing an oil, which, by analysis, proved to have the acetyl 
equivalent of O, that is to say, an oil free from hydroxyls. This oil is 
distinguished from the old oil by its property of leaving no after-taste. 
Indeed it has no “ oily” quality and is 
AS EASILY TAKEN AS A DRAUGHT OF WATER. 
It was not so with any other oils. The tongue might accept 
them, or be deceived with the aromatics contained in them, but 
certain super-sensitive stomachs were not to be cheated in this way. 
The stomach was quite able, in spite of all disguises, to discover the 
hydroxyls of the cod-liver oil and to send the substance back to the 
mouth by that informal proceeding known as “belching.” While 
better than any other, Muller s old oil could not, like the new oil, 
be said to be absolutely free from this objection, when the oil was 
used in certain super-sensitive gastric conditions. It was especially 
to this circumstance that those researches were due, which have fin- 
ally lead to the preparation of a cod-liver oil which is powerless to 
create any disturbance of the digestive tract. A point in the new oil 
is, that 
IT KEEPS BETTER THAN THE OLD. 
If kept in a cool place, the last dose will be as sweet as the first. At 
temperatures above 770 F., it will, like the old oil, absorb hydroxyls, 
the particular substances which, as Heyerdahl has shown, will cause 
eructations and an after-taste, in direct proportion to the quantity of 
hydroxyls absorbed. The old oil excelled all others because its 
method of preparation lessened the amount of its hydroxyls. The 
new oil is free from them, and, under the above conditions, tends so 
to remain. 
Heyerdahl, before his discovery of the unsaturated acids, made 
extensive researches on 
THE SO-CALLED STEARIN OF COD-LIVER OIL. 
Saturated acids are incapable of absorbing iodine, but unsatur- 
ated ones add two atoms of iodine to each double bond, or four atoms 
to each triple bond. Now, if the stearin, so-called, were in fact that compound, no iodine would be absorbed by it. Investigation showed, 
however, that iodine was absorbed by it, and to a high degree. For 
in stearin separated at a low temperature, the iodine absorption was 
113.4, and, after repeated crystallizations from petroleum-ether, ether 
and alcohol, it was still 97.7. Remembering that this stearin was not 
protected from air, the nature of these acids being then unknown, it 
is evident that the iodine figures were too low, for the stearin must 
have absorbed hydroxyls, and these take up the place of the iodine 
atoms. Therefore, the substances removed from the oil by cooling, 
which have been called stearin, are mostly if not wholly, 
VALUABLE, UNSATURATED, FATTY GLYCERIDES, 
that act upon the human system in the same way as the non-congeal- 
ing oil. Hence, there cannot now be any doubt that the efficaciousness 
of the oil rests with these fatty substances which so easily split up in the 
organism into readily oxydizable compounds. This is a simple and 
reasonable explanation of its efficaciousness in tuberculosis and allied 
conditions. The absurd hypotheses concerning 
“THE REMAINING FIVE PER CENT. OR LESS" 
as containing the “ really valuable constituents of cod-liver oil,” will 
now come to an end, for the active principle is, in reality, the 
OIL ITSELF. 
The importance of this discovery can hardly be over-estimated. 
It will put an end to the unscientific and unwholesome “emulsions,” 
to the ingenious and worthless “alcoholic extracts,” and to the 
inert and injurious “substitutes” for cod-liver oil, while it will 
place in the hands of the physician 
A PURE, SOUND, SWEET, TASTELESS AND SCIENTIFICALLY 
MADE PREPARATION OF COD-LIVER OIL, WHICH 
WILL FULLY MEET ALL THERAPEUTIC 
REQUIREMENTS. 
jB3T MOLLER’S COD-LIVER OIL is put up, exclusively, 
in flat oval bottles, hermetically sealed. 
Every bottle bears on the label, in perforated letters and figures, 
the season in which it was produced. 
W. H. Schieffelin & Co., 
Sole Agents for the United States, 
Canada and Mexico. 
NEW YORK. (1853-1892) 
R U REST 
LOFOTEN NORWEGIAN 
COD-LIVER OIL 
OR 
OLEUM MORRHUCE (MOLLER), 
Manufactured and Prepared for Medicinal Use by 
PETER MOLLER 
Of The Medical Society of Stockholm ; The Societe' de l'harmacie de Paris; Ihe Royal J'hilosofh- 
ical Society of Drontheim ; Author of the Section in Pharmacy of the Pharmacopoeia 
Norvegica ; Knight of the Orders of J asa and of St. Olaf etc.% etc. 
OLEUM MDRRHU/E (MOLLER) obtained the only FIRST PRIZES 
At the following Exhibitions : 
LONDON, 1862; PARIS, 1G67; BERGEN, 1865; 
CHRISTIANIA, 1871; DRAMMEN, 1873; STOCKHOLM, 1866; 
NAPLES, 1871; COPENHAGEN, 1872; MOSCOW, 1872; 
VIENNA, 1873 (for “Progress”); VIENNA, 1873 (for “Merit”); 
PARIS, 1878; 
THE FIRST PRIZE at PHILADELPHIA, 1376, and 
THE GOLD MEDAL at BERLIN, 1880. 
W. H. Schieffelin & Co., 
NEW YORK, 
Sole Agents for the United States, Canada and Mexico. 
1 892.