Taylor. — Preservation of Fish by Salt 129 



appear to be restored to their original condition. Salt thus 

 causes a temporary precipitation or fixation of proteins in fish, 

 to a certain extent hardening the tissues, and reducing the like- 

 lihood of changing. 



Not only does quite pure salt penetrate the fish more rapidly, 

 but when the time comes to cook the fish it is found to soak out 

 more rapidly also. Practical experiments in the experimental 

 kitchen of the Bureau of Fisheries indicates that fish preserved 

 in very pure salt soak out in from a third to a half the time 

 required by fish preserved in crude salt. 



What is the practical lesson of this work? It shows that by 

 the judicious selections of salt, not on the basis of its cheapness, 

 but on the basis of composition, one can produce a salt fish of 

 almost any desired quality. If salting is to be done in very 

 warm weather, it will be necessary to use the purest grade of salt 

 to secure very rapid penetration. In this way a soft yellowish 

 fish of excellent quality is obtained. Where weather is cool 

 enough to permit, a salt containing more calcium and magne- 

 sium may be used, in which case a whiter and firmer fish will be 

 produced. 



Can these very pure salts be obtained commercially? Sev- 

 eral brands of salt of the highest degree of purity are available 

 both on the east and west coasts and at a cost not much above 

 the price of cruder salt. In many cases the single item of fish 

 saved, that might otherwise spoil, will repay the extra cost of 

 pure salt, to say nothing of the improvement in quality of the 

 salt fish. 



FLAVORS OF SALT FISH 



The calcium and magnesium are taken up by the protein in 

 the cells and held, not coming out when the fish is soaked. Now 

 these impurities, particularly calcium, have an acrid taste, 

 and greatly accentuate the "saltiness" of salt. Pure salt is not 

 as "salty" as crude salt. If the calcium is held by the tissues at 

 the time of soaking out, while the salt is removed, then after 

 soaking there is a much greater amount of calcium present in 



