396 BULLETIN OP THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



sought for several years, and efforts are still being made in the same 

 direction. If it should become possible to preserve fresh fish for mouths 

 in such a manner that the flesh does not lose its delicate flavor, a prob- 

 lem will be solved by which, among other things, many drawbacks con- 

 nected with transportation would be avoided. 



Mr. Martin Brandt, the well-known Danish preserver of fish, who last 

 year returned from Tobolsk, Siberia, where he was called to start a large 

 preserving establishment, has now, according to the Danish Fiskeri- 

 tidende, discovered a method of preserving fresh fish and other articles 

 of food which probably solves the problem in a satisfactory manner, and 

 at any rate deserves attention. Mr. Brandt is at present endeavoring 

 to have his method patented, and intends to establish a fish-preserving 

 business and general fish business at Rostock, Mecklenburg, Germany, 

 because he thinks this a particularly favorable place through which, 

 in his opinion, a large portion of the fish will pass which are imported 

 into Germany from Denmark.* 



It is well known that, so far, all methods of preserving have some 

 drawbacks, or are suffering from some imperfections. The best method 

 is the so-called Appert method, according to which the fish are pre- 

 served in tin cans. The imperfections of this method are not so much 

 in the manner of preserving the fish, as in the circumstance that fish 

 put up in such tin cans has nearly everywhere to pay a heavy duty. 

 Since the year 1876, Martin Brandt has employed this method in his 

 preserving establishment at Ringkjobing, Denmark, and finally pro- 

 duced about 100,000 cans per annum, a quantity hardly reached by any 

 other establishment in the north of Europe. When Germany, to which 

 country he principally exported his goods, placed a heavy duty on pre- 

 served fish, he had to give uj) his establishment at Ringkjobing. 



To preserve the fresh fish in ice is, if carried out consistently, un- 

 doubtedly the best method. Both fish and flesh retain their shape and 

 looks, but, in order to obtain a favorable result, a very large quantity 

 of ice is needed, whose weight and the space occupied by it increase the 

 expense of transportation very considerably. The construction of ice- 

 boxes and the buying of ice-machines likewise involve a great expense. 

 Competent judges also saj" that the method of keeping fish on ice has 

 some drawbacks, a« heat is developed during the melting of the ice, 

 which, by generating steam, favors the inroads made by fungi. 



Of older methods we must mention the one by which the fish were 

 kept alive for a considerable period. But the number of fish which can 

 be kept alive by this method is comparatively small, and every day of 

 delay before the fish can be sold increases the loss. The fish are be- 



* This opinion would have to he proved, hy experience. A very large proportion of 

 the fish imported into Germany from Denmark are live fish, and the most natural 

 port of debarkation for these is Stettin, which may now almost be considered a sub- 

 urb of Berlin. In Stettin the fish are received in perforated boats, and in the same 

 manner pass through the River Oder and the Finow Canal to Berlin. Mr. Brandt, 

 therefore, probably refers only to the transportation of fresh fish.. — Editor, Deutsche 

 Rscherei-Zeitung. 



