PRESERVATION OF FISHERY PRODUCTS FOE FOOD. 
557 
MISCELLANEOUS ANTISEPTICS AND ANTISEPTIC PROCESSES. 
There are a luiraber of antiseptics which have been brought to the attention of 
fish-curers for use in preserving- their products, in addition to those already noted. 
The most desirable are those that do not change the texture of the fish, as common salt 
does, among these being boracic acid, salicylic acid, citric acid, tartaric acid, etc. 
The first is considered a valuable preservative, as it keeps fish and other food stuffs 
fresh for a week or more without great injury either to the appearance or quality of 
the articles preserved, aud it is used more extensively than all others, but usually 
only as an aid to other methods of preservation. 
BORACIC ACID. 
For many years the value of boracic acid as a preservative agent has been recog- 
nized. Its extensive use with articles of food appears to have originated in Norway 
about 1870. Among the articles preserved by its agency were herring, and the success 
with them was such that the trade gradually extended beyond the boundaries of the 
country and in 1885 they were shipped to England in large (juantities, successfully 
competing with fresh herring from Yarmouth and other points of Great Britain. 
The general method of application is as follows: The round herring are arranged 
in layers in a barrel and each tier covered with a thin layer of a mixture made of 
5 pounds of boracic acid and 10 pounds of fine salt. When full the barrekis tightened 
down in the usual way and the contents pickled with a weak solution of boracic acid 
and fresh water. The fish should then be kept in a cool place at an even temperature. 
In treating a barrel of herring in this way, 2i pounds of boracic acid and 5 pounds of 
salt are required for spreading on the fish during iiacking, and about 10 ounces of acid 
for dissolving in the water used for jiickling. The cost is about 8 or 10 cents per 
pound, wholesale. 
Some objection has been raised to the use of boracic acid as a iireservative 
because of its alleged injury to health. In opposition to this it is stated that it has 
been used for years, especially to preserve milk in hot weather, and no evidence has 
appeared to indicate injurious efiects upon the health. The Norwegian herring i^re- 
served with boracic acid are said to be of good quality aud to be in fair condition when 
placed on the markets, even after being two weeks out of the water. 
In discussing the curing of fish with boracic acid, the British Medical Journal 
states: 
Large quantities of herring preserved with salt and boracic acid being at present imported from 
Norway and sold in the London and Newcastle markets, attempts have been made to prevent their 
sale. The National Sea Fisheries Protection Association discussed the question at a recent conference 
at Fishmongers’ Hall, hut no decision as to such fish was arrived at. It may, therefore, he worth 
while to j)oint out that boracic acid being the essential ingredient of our many food preservatives, 
he it in the form of the acid, of horoglyceride, or of borax, has been used for years, esj)ecially to pre- 
serve milk in hot weather, and no evidence has ever been brought forward even to suggest injurious 
