144 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



and some of the applications even of the fishes and crustaceans ; and to 

 furthermore restrict our consideration to the fishes proper, introduc- 

 ing other forms only so far as they relate to the question of bait. 



1. As food for man and animals. — By far the most important applica- 

 tion of fish is as sustenance for man ; a large proportion of the popula- 

 tion of the globe deriving its support more or less exclusively from this 

 source. 



Although the fresh-water fisheries in many countries are of great 

 importance, and supply a notable percentage of valuable food, it is from 

 the sea that not.only the great portion of the fish found in our markets is 

 derived, but also the bulk of that which is preserved by various methods 

 for a greater or less length of time, and for transportation to distant 

 markets. 



Fresh fish can, of course, be kept in a cool climate for a considera- 

 ble time without any special preparation ; but the simplest mode of 

 treating it for preservation is that of drying, by exposure to the sun, 

 either with or without a certain amount of salting. 



Next to the drying we have the smoking either of the fresh meat or 

 when it is more or less salted. The salt may be applied either dry or 

 in solution, when the fish are to be used almost immediately (which pro- 

 cess is known as corning), or else kept for a longer period. Salt, being 

 a substance found universally, is the cheapest and most convenient me- 

 dium. The use of borax has already been alluded to on page 137. Sali- 

 cylic acid, too, in solution can be used to keep fish fresh for a considera- 

 ble length of time. 



Until quite recently the ice has been used by itself, without the addi- 

 tion of any salt whereby to produce the so-called freezing mixture, the 

 fish being kept in boxes or bins in the holds of vessels, in contact with 

 ice, reduced to a greater or less degree of firmness, and drainage being 

 provided to carry away the water. Sometimes the fish are packed with 

 ice and a non-conducting substance like sawdust, which greatly retards 

 the rapidity of melting and permits the shipment in large quantities. 



A much better method of using ice alone consists of its application in 

 some of the modern circulating refrigerators, in which it is placed above 

 the receptacle containing the fish or other meats, and a circulation so 

 established which, while keeping the temperature of the air surround- 

 ing the meats at a low point, extracts all the moisture from the atmos- 

 phere, leaving it perfectly dry, and furnishing an atmosphere correspond- 

 ing to that of an ordinary clear cold winter's day. The flesh of fish 

 thus treated is very much more palatable than where there is a direct 

 contact with the ice itself; in the latter instance the fish, while not un- 

 dergoing decomposition, becoming stale and sometimes more or less 

 sour. 



The greatest improvement, however, in the preservation of fish for 

 food is by the use of freezing mixtures. Under no circumstances by the 

 use of plain ice at melting temperatures, in an ordin ary summer's at- 



