BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 109 



3y.— PRESERVItVO FI8II JIV SCOTIiAIVD BY TME ROOSXEIV PROCESS.* 



By OSCAR MAL17IROS. 



[Dispatch No. 70 to the State Department-] 



Eeferring to my former dispatches iuclosiug articles by Prof. J. Cossar 

 Ewart, on the i)reservation of fresh lish,t I now submit the following 

 facts bearing upon the practical working of the " Koosen process " men- 

 tioned in Professor Ewart's communication : 



1. A number of dried ling, preserved according to the above process, 

 were dispatched from Glasgow, in an ordinary wooden box, withont 

 the usual tin lining, in a sailing vessel to Melbourne, Australia, and on 

 arrival there were found to be good. The ordinary mode of transit is 

 in tin -lined and hermetically sealed boxes, which entail in this country 

 an exi)enditure of £4^ [$21.90] per ton; audit has been found that the 

 fish, after crossing the equator, take on a red fnngus which destroys 

 their value. The commercial advantages of the new i^rocess are there- 

 fore considerable. 



2. A box of dried ling similar to the one sent to Australia, and pre- 

 served at the same time, was lately opened in Edinburgh in the pres- 

 ence of several oflicials connected with the fisheries in Scotland or 

 otherwise interested in tlic experiment. The box was perforated so as 

 to admit air, and although the fish had been caught nine months ago, 

 and had been kept in a damp warehouse, they were generally in a fair 

 condition. Before being packed in the box, the fish were about two 

 days in a solution of boracic acid and salt water, under a pressure of 

 six atmospheres, or 90 pounds, to the square inch. 



3. While the foregoing experiments relate to the j)reservatiou of dried 

 fish, an experiment with fresh fish seems to have been equally successful. 

 The fish in this instance selected for trial was fresh salmon which had 

 been subjected to the "Eoosen process" for three weeks. Its quality 

 was tested by practical men of considerable experience and knowledge 

 of fish, such as the manager of the Highland Fisheries Comi)any, mem- 

 bers of the Scottish Fisheries Board, the president of the Edinburgh 

 Fish Trade Association, a member of the Iceland Fishing Company of 

 Glasgow, and others possessing similar qualifications for forming an 

 authoritative opinion on the subject. In the opinion of these men, the 

 uncooked salmon could not be distinguished when placed in the market 

 from fresh fish. Cuts of the same lot of salmon were also tried grilled 

 and liot-boiled, and it was admitted that the fish had lost none of its 

 flavor by the jn^ocess. An opinion was also expressed by one of these 

 gentlemen that by and by Columbia Eiver salmon preserved in this man- 

 ner might be sold in Edinburgh at 1 shilling [24 cents] a pound. 



* Invented by M. August Eoosen of Hamburg, 

 t See F. C. Bulletin, 1886, p. 65. 



