the side nearest the ground invariably taints rapidly, 

 notwithstanding" occasional turning ; 



(5) the fish lie in the full blaze of a tropical sun so 

 that the outside is toasted while the inside, especially 

 when the flesh is thick, remains moist just because the 

 outside is toasted, a condition in the highest degree 

 favourable for bacterial growth and ravages ; it is known 

 that the dryage of large fish is insufficient since the fish- 

 curing yards for large and small fish together show a 

 dryage of only 40 per cent. (50,000 tons wet into 30,000 

 dry, in round figures), so that large fish do not lose 

 above 30 per cent., while they contain, when green, 75 

 to 80 per cent, of water ; the result is a steady continu- 

 ance of putrefaction even after the so-called "cure", 

 since bacterial action is only stopped by a considerable 

 degree of dryness. The toasted product is neither firm 

 nor sweet, and much of it would be thrown into the 

 manure tanks in any Western market. 



T^o. The remedies which will be experimented on 

 are — 



( 1 ) the use of more salt such as is given even in 

 Western climates ; 



(2) a longer stay in the salt ; 



(3) the use of pressure in stacks (and other 

 methods) for the removal of moisture preparatory to, or 

 without, sun-drying ; 



(4) the use, as is invariable in the West, of rough 

 frames (flakes) two or three feet high, carrying trays of 

 coarse wire nettinq- or bamboo trellis work on which the 

 fish lie so as to dry equally on both sides ; or scaffolds 

 on which the fish are hung ; 



(5) protection from the direct rays of the sun, as 

 in the West where screens are provided so as to avoid 

 toasting ; 



(6) a greater degree of dryage. 



The use of more salt and a longer stay in salt will 

 permit of sloiv air-drying, a matter of much importance 

 in order that the product may be dried throughout. 

 Pressure is, in the West (as in the Ratnagiri methods at 

 Malpe), an invariable adjunct to drying in the case of 

 large fish, but there are other simple physical methods 

 for quickly getting rid of the superfluous extra-cellular 

 water lying amongst the tissues before applying the slow 

 process of pressure in stacks which is efficacious rather 



