182 ANIMAL FOOD RESOURCES OF DIFFERENT NATIONS. 



canvas-backs and all kinds of game are kept by the thou- 

 sands, in apartments in which the temperature remains 

 at 18° above zero, and where terrapins in multitudes live 

 and grow fat on nothing. There are five large closets on 

 the premises, built in the walls, similar to bank vaults, 

 and these, by a scientific process, are arranged to keep 

 their interiors at a very low temperature, by the use of 

 ice, but in a different manner from the freezing process 

 of a refrigerator. In one of these the canvas-backs and 

 other wild game are kept perfectly fresh ; in another 

 there are all varieties of fish, including shad from Savan- 

 nah, white fish from the lakes, rock and perch from the 

 Chesapeake tributaries, and blue fish, haddock and codfish 

 from the North. In another closet the smaller and more 

 common fish are kept, and all of the closets are filled 

 with some of the special products dealt in. Shipments 

 of canvas-backs by the barrel are made to London, Liver- 

 pool, and Paris by the steamships from New York and 

 Baltimore. The birds are taken from the cold closets, 

 and, when on board the steamers, are put in ice and 

 reach their destinations in excellent condition. 



There is an enormous slaughter of pelicans in Cochin 

 China for their feathers. As many as 2,000 are killed 

 nightly for several nights in their great haunts. Most of 

 the flesh of the birds is left to the crows, as there is no 

 appliance for preserving it ; some is, however, dried, and 

 stated to be very good, and something like beef. 



Cranes were hy no means despised by people of taste 

 among the Romans. The fiesh of the young crane (Grm 

 cinereus) is well flavoured and wholesome, for it does 

 not feed on fish, but grain and seeds. According to 

 Schweinfurth that of the West African crane (Balearica 

 pavonina, Lin.) is more palatable than that of the 

 goose. 



Cranes, herons, bitterns and swans roasted, were served 

 at table some five hundred years ago, and at the feasts 

 in the time of Richard the Second. 



The bittern (Botaurus stellaris) was formerly held in some 

 estimation as an article of food for the table ; the flesh is 



