[3] REVIEW OF ANNANIASSEN'S VOYAGE TO ICELAND. 317 



ish riie moisture which i^s retained in tlie tiesli after a crust has formed 

 oi: the outside, and which, by i)ressing gradually, works its way toward 

 the outside where it evaporates, but it does not contribute ''most largely 

 to the drying of the Iceland fish." Too much pressing in the beginning 

 makes the klii)-fish tough and less delicate in llavor. The pressure 

 should never be so strong as to make the water ooze out from the pile 

 of fish or to make it gather inside the pile. During drying care should 

 bo taken that the tish are changed every time they are pressed. Those 

 which were on the top should the next time be at the bottom, and vice 

 versa. When the drying process approaches completion the pressure is 

 increased. Much will also depend, of course, upon whether the weather 

 has been very dry or not. If the weather is unusually dry greater press- 

 ure is apphed, so that the moisture may be distributed as rapidly as 

 possible; and as soon as damp weather sets in the i)ressure is decreased. 

 c. It ])robably is not true that during the season for the manufacture 

 of klip-fish (Maj^ 15 to June 30) there is more cloudy weather in Iceland 

 than in Norway, and that the drying process is more hastened on account 

 of this. Nor are the iisli in Iceland salted excessively. The great i)ressure 

 used in Iceland is applied solely to smooth the fish and to drive the moist- 

 ure toward the outside, where it can evaporate more readily. I am not 

 sufficiently ;ic(|uainted with the Norwegian method of curing klip-fish to 

 j)ass an opinion, but 1 am inclined to think that the principal difference 

 between the Norwegian and the Iceland methods is this, that in Iceland 

 the fish are <lried, as a general ride, with more air and less sunshine. 

 In Iceland thi; best ])laces for curing fish are those where there is much 

 draft and some sunshine, but not much, at least until the drying [)rocess 

 is nearly complete. 



AVhen the fish have obtained a degree of stilfness so that they do not 

 bend when taken by the tail and held upright, and when held against 

 the sun or a strong light no dark ] tortious are, seen in the llesh, they are 

 considered sufliciently drieil. When they have reache<l this state the 

 tish should be so tirm that when ])ressed with the (humb or the points 

 of the fingers no impression remains. 



I have studied this (piestion of the pro])ortion of fresh, salted, ;ind 

 (hied fish for some time, without arriving at an absolutely certain con- 

 clusion. The i)roportion named by Mr. Anuaniassen may, however, be 

 taken as api)roximately correct. 



Until the year 1787, up to which time the fisheries were a mon()])oly 



of the Danish Government, I find that Irom the fresh fish about lio i)er 



cent of klip-fish were obtaine«l ; and similar results are given in several 



reports from the eighteenth century. This cannot be supi)osed to be cor- 



I rect. I have been informed that in exceptional cases first-class fat sea- 



' cod have given from 45 to 47 per cent of well-prepared dried k]ii)-tish, 



' while the usual i)ercentage was 40, or more accurately from '.>S to -10. 



I Lean codfish, after the si)awning season, and not very fat summer cod, 



\l will yield from 33 to 38 per cent, and in a few c^ses even less than 33 



