REFRIGERATION OF FISH 505 



halibut smack first carried ice. The practice came into more general 

 use in 1845. At first the ice was kept in a corner of the hold, separate 

 from the fish, because of a prejudice against iced fish. Eventually it 

 was found that ice in contact did not materially affect the fish, which 

 were thenceforth packed in ice. Because of the prejudice against 

 iced fish (such as we now encounter against frozen fish) iced pack- 

 ages were not shipped until 1858, when New England dealers shipped 

 iced fish as an experiment to New York City; the practice rapidly 

 grew, and a large trade was quickly developed. 



Enoch Piper 4 , of Camden, Me., was first to freeze fish artificially. 

 He laid out the fish in racks in an insulated chamber and set pans 

 of crushed ice and salt mixture on them, which froze the fish in 

 about 24 hours. The frozen fish, after being glazed by a dip in 

 cold water, were transferred to an insulated chamber provided with 

 vertical metallic tubes filled with the freezing mixture to keep the 

 fish frozen until used. He improved his process in a patent of 

 1862. 5 



In 1866 and 1867 Charles F. Pike, 6 of Providence, R. I., applied 

 similar principles to refrigeration aboard ship. 



The method of freezing fish in cakes, by packing them in pans or 

 molds to be placed in freezing chambers, was originated by David W. 

 and Samuel H. Davis, 7 of Detroit, Mich. In the earlier form of 

 the invention the pans were truncated cones of such size and shape 

 as to make a series of cakes just to fit a barrel in which the frozen 

 fish were shipped. In 1880 D. W. Davis 8 patented a method of 

 packing fish in finely crushed ice in a barrel and subjecting the 

 entire barrel to refrigeration to freeze the contents to a solid mass. 

 D. W. Davis's work culminated in 1902 9 in the invention of a process 

 of freezing in a rectangular pan, the pan being covered with a lid, 

 packed in an ice-and-salt mixture for freezing, the frozen cake 

 removed with the aid of water, glazed in cold water, and stored. 

 Aside from the freezing in ice and salt this is essentially the method 

 in widespread use to-day. 



In 1876 Robert C. Armstrong 10 patented a shipping package con- 

 sisting of a small barrel inside a larger one, with sawdust between 

 the two, and an outlet pipe. Fish and ice were put in the smaller 

 barrel and the whole was headed for shipment. 



Numerous other patents and improvements came forth in the 

 eighties and nineties, relating to various methods of freezing, the 

 discussion of which will fall more logically in this paper in the 

 sections devoted to special processes of freezing and will be treated 

 elsewhere. Meanwhile, the most important step in the artificial 

 refrigeration of fish was the introduction of refrigerating machines 

 using ammonia, which came into use for freezing and storing fish 

 in 1892 at Sandusky, Ohio. Since that time, and particularly since 

 the beginning of the present century, the method of freezing fish 

 in cold rooms has come into widespread use. 



In 1879 winter-frozen salmon were first shipped to England 

 by Sir Charles Petrie, but for lack of suitable storage facilities in 



4 U. S. Patent 31736, Mar. 19, 1861. 

 6 U. S. Patent 36107, Aug. 5, 1862. 

 8 U. S. Patent 72894, Dec. 31, 1867. 

 7 U. S. Patent 161596, Apr. 6, 1875. 

 8 U. S. Patent 226390, Apr. 13, 1880. 

 8 U. S. Patent 709751, Sept. 23, 1902. 

 30 U. S. Patent 178094, Mav 30, 1876. 



