524 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
boiled iu salt water for 30 minutes, and separated from the shells by girls, who use 
only their fingers for this purpose. The shrimp are then dumped on a small iilatform, 
and the shell particles, tentacles, etc., are jiicked off, after which they are passed 
through a blower on an endless platform, where the remaining dust and other foreign 
matters are removed. They are next placed in 1-pound cans containing 10 ounces 
each, the lining having been inserted. When the cans are filled, the lining covers 
are adjusted and the lids sealed on and the cans placed in a bath of boiling water 
for 2 hours. On removal from this bath thej^ are ready for labeling. 
Messrs, ti. W. Dunbar’s Sons (successors to G. W. Dunbar & Sons) now have the 
only shrimp cannery in Louisiana, though for a few years iirior to 1891 a factory 
owned by Messrs. A. Booth & Co., of Chicago, was operated at Morgan City. At 
Biloxi, Miss., are three canneries which devote considerable attention to preparing 
shrimp, the first of these having been established about 1880. 
In 1897 the output of canned shrimp in Louisiana and Mississippi was 1,395,108 
1, 11, and 2 jiouud cans, which sold for $156,190. 
In 1870 a shrimp cannery was established at Galveston, Tex., by Messrs. Pecor 
Brothers. To iirevent discoloration of the shrimp, instead of placing a lining of some 
textile fabric between the fish and the can, as in the Dunbar process, this firm lined 
the can with a coating of asphaltum cement, which was permitted to dry thoroughly. 
Strips of paper were then cut, and, after being coated with a hot solution of paraffin, 
were placed within the can so as to fully cover its interior surface.* The can was 
filled with shrimp, and the subsequent treatment was substantially as hereinbefore 
described. In 1880 this cannery was reported as having put up 75,000 1 pound cans 
of shrimp, Avorth |13,000, but a large decrease in abundance of shrimp in Galveston 
Bay necessitated its closing down a few years later. 
Another method of lining the inside of tin cans to prevent the direct contact of 
the shrimp with the metal was devised by Louis Leuglet, of St. Louis, Mo. This con- 
sists in providing a lining of corn husks, covering the inside annular body of the can 
as Avell as the top and bottom. It is claimed that corn husks have the advantage of 
requiring no previous treatment with acids to neutralize or destroy any peculiar odor 
or flavor of the material, and that such lining keeps its shape well, is sufficiently thin 
and flexible, and not expensive. 
Shrimp are also canned in Japan by a process similar to that employed in this 
country. Specimens of the Japanese product were exhibited at the World’s Fair, 
Ghicago, 1893. 
CANNING CRABS. 
The canning of crabs originated in this country about 1878, with Mr. James 
McMenamin, then located at Norfolk, Va. He first attempted to follow the methods 
used in canning lobsters, but not meeting with satisfactory results he started out on 
original lines, the product being first placed on the market in the fall of A878. On 
account of the greater abundance of crabs in that vicinity, Mr. McMenamin moved to 
Hampton, Va., in April of 1879, and began operations on a large scale. In that year 
another cannery was established at Hampton by Mr. T. T. Bryce. In 1879 these two 
canneries uged 6,000,(100 crabs, producing 81,009 2 pound cans, worth $16,800. One 
l.etters Patent No. 226347, dated Aiiril 6, 1880. 
