SAUDI NK oil. 



that might be used as a substitute for cod-liver oil. Thus, for example, 



IK-HI, nit-da mal ii- h-li\iT oil of an excellent quality was 

 m.imiia.-t in.-. I. a small factory for this purpose having been constructed 

 iii.m in l> >i. .mil the livers of sharks and saw-fishes were purchased 

 m tin- ti-h.-rm.-n. The abundance or paucity of these fishes evidently de- 

 a very great ,-\t.-nt upon M h.-t h.-r .-ar-linos were or were not present, for 

 latter forms of 1 1>,,,, ,<i an- \. i \ . aprk-ious, sometimes forsaking the coast 

 i successi \< .n.l th.-n as suddenly reappearing in countless 



No livers mi.l.-i to Ib. weight were accepted at the factory, as the 

 .av.- proportionally a greater amount of oil than the smaller ones; 

 !i:.-tmn- h\iM> <>t a great size were purchased. One weighed 290 Ib., and 

 from a f<>malc saw-fish, 14 feet long, 185 Ib." The fish included in 

 tln> paragraph have been enumerated under Fish-maws and Shark-fins above. 



(/*) Other Fish-oils. The livers, or the whole fish, of certain species that do 

 not belong to the above group are known to afford excellent oils. These are 

 mainly used for illuminating purposes, but some are of superior quality and 

 may be even employed as articles of food. Such oils appear to be made of salt- 

 tMi. all along the coast of India, and from fresh-water species, along the 

 channels of the chief rivers. The following are the fish most highly spoken of 

 as affording oil: Burim* -/ii (I.e. i., 317), the Bitter Carp of the rivers of 

 India ; ii " /imin-iiitii (I.e. i., 373), the Sardine; t: iiiniut (I.e. i., 376), the Sable 

 or llilmi ; . lomjii i". (I.e. i., 373), the Malabar Oil Sardine; ./'""' >i-im> ,-.,,>,,, 

 c. ii., 211), the Seer or konam; !. riin<i (I.e. i., 262), the ruhu of Indian 

 vers ; si in mi i j/<mr/-/i-i (I.e. i., 145), found in the estuaries of India and Burma, 

 16 oil of which is much valued as a medicine. 



Trade la Oil. Thurston gives the fullest and most recent account of the Fish- 

 trade of India. The following passage may, therefore, be abstracted from 

 most interesting and useful report : " Hundreds of tons of fish-oil are said 

 have been annually exported from Cochin in former years, and I find that 

 average export thereof in the five years 1856 to 1861 was 19,630 cwt. 

 oil trade is, however, reported to be decreasing year by year. In some 

 ns the sardines arrive off the coast in enormous numbers, or, for several 

 consecutively, they may be present only in quantities sufficient for pur- 

 poses of food. The result of this irregularity is that one very important element 

 of success in commercial undertakings regular supply is wanting. In some 

 years large shoals of sardines appear, and suddenly disappear. Contracts for 

 the supply of oil are made on the arrival of the fishes, and, in the event of 

 their disappearance, the contractor loses heavily. The Natives of Cochin say 

 that formerly the sardines always arrived regularly, and remained throughout 

 the season. And the fishermen's belief is that they are at the present day 

 ightened away by the numerous steamers which call at Cochin, and retire 

 search of a less disturbed spot. In addition to steam-boat traffic, noises in 

 boats, ringing church bells, artillery practice, the erection of lighthouses, gutting 

 fish at sea, using fish as manure, burning kelp, and the wickedness of the people, 

 ve been charged with being responsible for a falling off of the fish supply, 

 ut, as Mr. Fryer naively remarks, of these alleged causes, only the last, it is to 

 feared, has been, and is likely to be, a permanent factor in the case." 

 " The preparation of the evil-smelling fish-oil is carried out in large iron 

 uldrons, in which the fish are boiled with a little water. The oil, as it exudes, 

 rises to the surface, is strained through cloth, and stored in barrels. The residue 

 in the cauldrons is preserved, and utilized as manure for cocoanut gardens, paddy 

 rice) fields, etc. A rougher and cheaper process of oil-extraction, by which the 

 it of cauldrons and firewood was saved, has practically been put a stop to as 

 ing an offensive trade. This process consisted simply hi putting the fishes into 

 a canoe, and exposing them to the influence of the sun until decomposition set 

 in. The oil then rose to the surface, and was removed with a scoop. By this 

 ( -nulo process a comparatively small quantity of the oil was extracted. A portion 

 of the manufactured oil is consumed locally by boat-owners for smearing their 

 boats, so as to preserve the wood and coir ropes (made from the fibre of the cocoa- 

 nut husk) with which the timbers are stitched together. But the bulk is exported 

 to Europe and some Indian ports. The Natives believe that the oil returns from 

 Europe, masquerading hi the guise of cod-liver oil." [Cf. Eastern India, i., 229 ; 

 Buchanan-Hamilton, MS. pub. by Day in Hunter, Stat. Ace. Beng., xx., 85 ; Japanese 

 Sardine Oil, in Journ. Soc. Chem. Indust., 1887, vi., 372 ; Thurston, Bull. Mad. 

 Mus., 1900, No. 2.] 



540 35 



FISH 



Oil 



Liver Oik. 



niumimnt Oil*. 



Oil Trade. 



Decreasing. 

 oiL 



Losses on 

 Contracts. 



Causes. 



Manufacture. 



Crude Process. 



