I66 MADRAS FISHERIES BULLETIN VOL. XIIl. 



but are somewhat harder to work with. If after clarification 

 from foots, the oil is treated with sulphuric acid, and the sulphuric 

 acid and precipitated matter entirely removed by washing and 

 neutralization, the oil is said to mix well with paints and, if mixed 

 with kerosene and graphite, to be a good lubricator. 



42. The wholesale price of crude menhaden oil varied at from 



22 to 30 cents per U.S.A. gallon (7"33 lb. of oil) in 1897— 1902 ; 



it was 23 cents in 1912, from 26 to 33 cents in 1913, from 36 to 37 



in 1914 (pre-war), while in June 1919 the price was 78 to 82. In 



the earlier years the refined oils were from 4 to 8 cents per gallon 



dearer than crude, according to class of refinement ; in June 1919 



the excess was 18 to 22 cents per gallon, winter bleached oil 



running at 99 to 102 cents (l dollar 2 cents) per U.S.A. gallon as 



against 80 cents crude. It will be seen that with the rupee at is. 4d. 



or 32 cents, crude menhaden oil was priced — wholesale — before 



the war at about II to 18 annas per gallon; in 1919 20 with the 



rupee at, say, two shillings or 48 cents, the price would be about 



Rs. I-II-O or Rs. I-I2-0 for crude, and about Rs. 2-6-0 for winter 



bleached. 



MADRAS WEST COAST. 



43. History. — Fish oil and guano are, in the Madras Presidency, 

 made only on the West Coast (Malabar and South Kanara) where 

 shoals of the oil sardine (Clupea longiceps, nalla matti) appear, 

 usually in great abundance, from August to June ; probably they are 

 also present, being frequently caught in fair intervals, during the 

 South-West monsoon from, say, 1st June to the end of August, but 

 the heavy weather and rains of 80 inches upwards, preclude both 

 capture and manufacture at that season, which, indeed, seems to 

 be provided by nature as a close season, the fish being at that time 

 in spawn. 



These are the only fish providing " body oil"; whales are non- 

 existent, and the sharks, though numerous, are usually small so that 

 " liver oil " is not much in evidence, especially as sharks are much 

 esteemed as food. Nor is any other fish available for the 

 manufacture of fertilizer, since every fish is used as food, even to 

 the skin, while the shoals of mackerel and catfish are far too 

 valuable, in every way, to be used otherwise than as direct food. 



44. From time immemorial the oil sardine has been used either 

 for oil or for fertilizer but in the rudest possible way. For fertilizer 

 the surplus fish — formerly in large quantity owing to absence of 



