128 MADRAS FISHERIES BULLETIN VOL. XI, 



Director of the Fisheries Section of the Bureau of Science, Philip- 

 pine Islands :— 



"In reading your interesting lecture on the Minor Marine 

 Industries, I was greatly astonished by the method you gave for 

 preparing beche-de-mer. You state ' no water is added ' (in 

 boiling) ' as they contain sufficient fluid within their bodies. 

 When removed from the pan they are placed within a basket and 

 well tramped in order to remove their skin.' " 



" Now I have seen thousands of commercial trepang but I 

 never have seen one with the skin removed — none are prepared in 

 the Philippines or in Japan, or in Australia in this way, as I have 

 watched the process very carefully in these places. I have also 

 prepared quite a quantity myself, so I would like a little more 

 detail regarding your method." 



It is probable therefore that with the further particulars which 

 I have supplied and the publicity that will follow upon the 

 publication of this report, that the Indian method of treatment will 

 be adopted in other beche-de-mer producing countries and so 

 enable species hitherto considered valueless to become of import- 

 ance in the trade, and so form a small contribution to the extension 

 of the food resources of the East. 



DEFECTS IN CURE AND TRADE IRREGULARITIES. 



When I began the investigation of this product in 1914, I found 

 that the perfected Chinese methods were not being followed with 

 precision ; the product in consequence was inferior in quality. 

 Further, the curers and exporters had evolved several clever but 

 shortsighted sharp practices in the sophistication of the product, 

 with the idea partly to increase the weight illegitimately and 

 partly to pass considerable quantities of inferior quality into bags 

 containing better grades. 



The chief of these departures from proper practice and honest 

 work were : — 



(a) Faulty evisceration, 



(b) Imperfect removal of the chalky dermal coating, 



(c) Careless drying, entailing a dirty-looking product, much 

 coated with sand, 



(d) Reluctance to smoke the product in order to save the 

 expense of fuel, 



(f) The mixing of improper quantities of small stuff with the 

 larger grades, and 



