210 KKl'OKT OK COMMISSIONER OF KISH AND FISHERIES. 



decomposition i)ro(lii(ns evolved. W'lien tlie oil ceases to fl(^w, usually 

 at the (Mid of Iwo or lliree mouths, the mass of fat is boiled in water 

 wilh the fleshy or ral-leau portions. Durinij: this boiling the oil rises 

 to the surface and is skimmed off. The residue is evaporated bj' 

 pressure and drying-, and is used for fertilize]-. This was fornierl}' 

 the usual method employed in rendering; seal oil in Newfoundland, 

 but dui-iiii;- the last t wenty-ti\<' or thirty years the steam lu'ocess has 

 been i>'enerally adopt (m1. 



In tri'atin^- a small (pianiity of blul)l)er for extraction of the oil it 

 is usually more convenient to mince it finely and cook it in a kettle 

 over a lire. The oil rises to the surface and is skimmed off and placed 

 in casks or other suitable receptacles. This is the method commonly 

 employed by the shore hunters whose catch is small. 



At the large sealing ports, a.s St. Johns, Tonsberg, Dundee, Astra- 

 khan, etc., the oil is usually rendered by means of steam. The 

 minced blubber is exposed to the action of steam in large inclosed 

 tanks. The oil flowing therefrom passes through pii)es into large 

 reservoirs, of wliich there are usnallj' three or more, the overflow from 

 the first passing into the second, and the ovei-flow from the second 

 into the third. This furnishes the first quality of steam-refined oil. 

 By pressing the steamed blubber, a second ([uality of dark-brown oil 

 is obtained. 



The steam i^rocess of rendering has the advantage of rapidity in 

 oj^eration, also the oil is free from disagreeable odor and is of superior 

 burning qualities. However, for use in mines the sun-extracted oil 

 is preferred, especially that of young seals, owing to its greater freedom 

 from smoke, the odor being of little consequence to miners. Accord- 

 ing to 31 r. Carrol," oil from old seals is more smoky than that from 

 young ones; it is also of greater specific gravity, and when the blubber 

 of both ai-e rendered together, the young seal oil comes out first. 



.lit hough the catch of seals in the Xewfoundland fishery in I'.tOl 

 was almost as large as in 1!)00, being 345,380 in 1901, as compared 

 with 353,276 in 1000, the yield of oil was about 120,000 gallons h>ss, 

 representing a difference in vaUu^ of about $50,00(1. This was ])rinci- 

 pally because the average weight of the seals was small, owing to the 

 fact that in 1901 the seals whelped some daj's later than in 1900, and 

 furthermore, they were taken two or three days earlier than usual, 

 the absence of pack ice enabling the vessels to reach them promptly 

 after leaving harbor. In 1900 the average weight of the seal pelts 

 was about 40 i)ounds, whereas in 1901 it was but 38 pounds. The 

 3'oung seals gain daily two or three pounds in weight of blul)ber, and 

 if the vessels had been three or four days later in reaching the herds, 

 the yield of oil in the Newfoundland fishery in J 901 would probably 

 have been approximately the same as in 1900. 



The decadence of the seal-oil industry, especially in the waters 

 north of Europe, has been gradual but certain, owing to the introduc- 



" The seal aod herriug fisheries of Newfoundland; by Michael Carrol, Montreal, 1873, p. 3(). 



