52 MADRAS FISHERIES BULLETIN VOL. XlV, 



operations with a capital insufficient to endure any prolonged delay 

 in reaching the profit-producing stage. I had the advantage of 

 being shown the original experimental plant, installed in an out- 

 building of the Bergen Biological Station, and of having the process 

 and the vicissitudes of the promoting company explained in detail 

 by Herr Bull, with whom I sympathize greatly in the extinguish- 

 ment — for the time being only, I trust — of his hopes. The process 

 has, I am convinced, substantial and real advantages of its own in 

 regard to certain classes of fish. 



There remains the Nicolai Dahl system to describe, a system 

 that in spite of certain defects, appears to me the most practical 

 and satisfactory of all in countries where ice can be obtained at 

 a very low price. The only plant in Norway is situated at 

 Trondhjem in the patentee's private packing house, and by Mr. 

 Dahl's courtesy the opportunity was afforded me, when in 

 Trondhjem, of inspecting it in detail and having its practical 

 working explained by the inventor himself. Mr. Dahl, who has been 

 working at the perfecting of his system since 1911, took out his first 

 British patent in I913. According to the specification the process 

 consists in " causing the liquid (cold brine) to trickle down between 

 the article from a point above the box or the freezing room (store, 

 railway wagon, the hold of a vessel, etc.) in which the article is 

 kept, thereby keeping the same constantly cool, while at the same 

 time the liquid supplied has a preserving effect. In this manner 

 the article will be thoroughly frozen in quite a short time without 

 losing its fresh appearance, and thus without its commercial value 

 being impaired. This is suitably and most advantageously attained 

 by placing a freezing mixture of ice and salt at the bottom of the 

 storage room, for instance the hold of a steamer, and utilizing the 

 cooling and preserving qualities of the liquid generated from 

 the said mixture." 



Mr. Dahl is what is termed a self-made man, without the 

 advantage of higher education, but extremely shrewd and long- 

 headed. As may be inferred from this there are several points 

 about his system, or rather about his way of employing it as seen 

 during my visit, that outrages theoretical ideas, but to use the 

 vulgar phrase " the proof of the pudding is in the eating," and the 

 proof of Dahl's system is the fact that it is highly profitable and 

 that it is in everyday operation in his packing house. The appa- 

 ratus as worked in Trondhjem is located in a wooden single storey 



