An excellent substitute [for cod-liver oil] and one often better
tolerated, is the fat of pork properly prepared. I direct a thick
portion of the rib piece, free from lean, to be selected and allowed to
remain in soak for thirty-six hours before being boiled, the water being
frequently changed to get rid of the salt. It should be boiled slowly,
and thoroughly cooked, and while boiling, the water must be changed
several times by pouring it off, and fresh water nearly boiling
substituted. It is to be eaten cold in the form of a sandwich made from
stale bread, and both should be cut as thin as possible. It is very
nutritious, but it should only be given in small quantities until a
taste for it is acquired. It is the most concentrated form in which food
can be taken in the same bulk, and I have frequently seen it retained
when the stomach was so irritable that other substances would be
rejected. For this condition of the stomach it may be rubbed up
thoroughly in a porcelain mortar and then given in minute quantities at
a time. It is made more palatable by the addition of a little table
salt, and this will be tolerated, while the salt used for preserving the
meat having become rancid, if not soaked out, will produce disturbance
even in a healthy stomach. I, some years ago, saved the lives of two of
my children, who, on different occasions were suffering from cholera
infantum, by feeding them entirely on the fat of pork prepared in the
way I have described, and, while nothing else would be retained in their
stomachs, not only was it retained, but it also had a beneficial effect
on the diarrhœa.—_Emmett’s Prin. and Prac. of Gynæcology_, _p. 102_.
A surgeon in London was recently tried and convicted of
manslaughter, for not heeding numerous calls from a patient who
afterwards died apparently from this neglect.