534 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
ing or softening the numerous bones in the menhaden without the use of vinegar or 
other acids. They adopted a process, described in Letters Patent No. 127115, dated 
May 21, 1872, which consisted in successive steaming, combined with an intervening 
cooling, which softened the bones so that they might be eaten without inconvenience. 
Their treatment of the lish was as follows: When landed, which must be very 
soon after they are removed from the water, the fish are cleaned, scaled, and dressed, 
and slightly salted in hogsheads. After remaining in salt a few hours, depending on 
the temperature and the size of the fish, they are placed in cooking cans, which are 
a little larger than the market cans, and put in a steam chest, where they are snb- 
jected to a temperature of 220° F., or thereabouts, for 2 or 3 hours. On removal they 
are placed on tables to cool and drain for 5 or 6 hours, when they are packed in tin 
cans suitable for market, and the cans are then filled with oil, after which the covers 
are soldered on. The cans and their contents are heated in a steam chest for a length 
of time depending on the size of the fish, then vented, when the cans are ready for 
labeling and boxing. 
In 1873 the American Sardine Company j)repared about 30,000 dozen cans in the 
manner above described, and several other factories were also engaged in this business 
in the same locality.* During the last fifteen years, however, menhaden have not 
been used for the preparation of sardines in this country, herring having been found 
much more suitable for this purpose. 
FOREIGN SARDINES. 
The importation of sardines into this country was begun about 1830. By 1858 it 
had reached a value of $250,000 annually, and from that year to 1898 it aggregated 
$29,867,457. The great bulk of these came from France, with much smaller quantities 
from Portugal, England, and Norway. 
The general method of preparing these fish in France is as follows : On arrival of 
the fish at the factory they are placed on tables or iilatforms and lightly sprinkled with 
salt, just enough salt being used to prevent the fish from becoming slimy. The heads, 
tails, and intestines are removed, and the fish are immersed in weak brine for IJ to 2 
hours, when they are thrown into small baskets and rinsed in clear water. Next they 
are placed on small gridirons, and again rinsed and laid aside to dry. The drying is 
best done in the open air, but when the weather prevents it is done in a specially 
prepared oven. As soon as sufficiently dry the fish are cooked in oil and then packed 
with olive oil in tin boxes and cooked and vented, as in case of the Maine sardines. 
In France sardines in oil are sometimes mixed with truffles. They are also pre- 
pared with tomatoes and sent in small quantities to the New York market, but the 
chief export in this form is to Mexico. Sardines preserved in butter are quite good, 
but the butter is generally of inferior quality, and it is necessary to remove it before 
serving the sardines, and the box must be heated to melt the butter, so that each fish 
may be removed entire. Sardines preserved in vinegar require to be washed before 
serving. The addition of oil renders the fish more palatable, though the sardine 
retains the taste of the vinegar and its flavor is partly destroyed. 
Boneless sardines (put up at Ooncarneau and Davorneney, France) are quite 
popular in the United States markets, but they are not prepared in this country. 
The method of preparing them is only a slight modification of the general process. 
When the sardines are about half dried in the sun (if dried in an oven they can be 
* Report of U. S. Fish Comiuissioii, 1877, pp. 137-138. 
