One of them did, in fact, have a lot of vitamins.
The term “cod liver oil” has a little sepia undertone these days. They bring to mind a Dickensian headmaster or a school nurse with a muddy spoonful of something.
There are numerous treatments from the 18th and 19th centuries that have not held up over time. For example, we no longer routinely administer opiates to wailing infants. Although castor oil and fig syrup may be a bit too effective in relieving constipation, they are no longer regarded as panaceas. And how recently did you visit the chemist’s for treacle and brimstone?
However, one of the few treatments from the days of snake oil and patent medicine that truly worked is cod liver oil. Heat codfish livers and collect the oil that oozes out to create the substance, which is extremely high in vitamin D and A. People had observed that children who were given cod liver oil had a lower risk of developing rickets, the childhood bone condition from which the term “rickety” originates and which can cause seizures and heart attacks, prior to the discovery of vitamins, which would have to wait a few more years.
