400 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
Many curers endeavor to iirevent this redness by sprinkling a small (luantity of 
boracic acid and common salt over the fish. About 1 pound of the acid is used to 40 
pounds of fish. This article was introduced in the codfish business about 1881 and 
is now quite generally used, particularly during the warm months, when it is found 
almost essential in order to keep dry fish in good condition for a few weeks or even 
days. It is generally employed in the form of a proprietary compound. 
In discussing the cause of the discoloration of Pacific coast codfish a prominent 
fish-curer of New England states: 
The Alaska codfish tiira ott’-color for precisely the same reason that our Grand Banks codfish do, 
when caught on long trips. The fish are piled very high in kecches, and the pressure of the upper 
tiers of fish crushes the fibers and sacs between the fibers and all tlie white gluten is pressed out. In 
a nutshell, the cause of codfish turning yellow is pressure. Our Georges codfish are caught by vessels 
which are very seldom out over a month, and a fare of 30,000 pounds in that time is considered a good 
catch. These fish are all caught with hand lines, fhej^are never piled high in the keuches, as there 
is no need of it, for there is plenty of room in the vessel for .30,000 pounds without piling them high, 
and so they are put into very shallow kenches. They hold their weight, which is a saving to the 
fishermen, and they hold their color simply because the fibers and sacs which hold the white gluten 
are never crushed. Our Grand Banks fleet are gone from Gloucester all the way from two to four months, 
and if they have hard luck are sometimes gone six mouths. If one of them comes in with a full fare 
in two months, her fish will be very much whiter on the average than one that has been out twice or 
three times as long. The fish may be 2^iled uj) to the deck of the vessel and the fish in the lower part 
of the kenches may be pressed very hard and the fibers and sacs crushed and then fish will turn yellow; 
but if she stays out twice or three times as long they will be yellower still, because they have been 
pressed so much longer. But the greater part of her fish, viz, the latest ones that she caught and 
the tojis of the kenches, will be white. The nearer the top the whiter the fish; the nearer the bottom 
the yellower the fish, and all due entirely to the amount of pressure they have received. I understand 
that the vessels that fish on the Alaska fishing-grounds are very large vessels, brigs, or barks, and they 
fish six months and bring in fares of half a million pounds or more and they are jiressed too much. 
The only way that Alaska codfish can be made to hold their color is to send smaller vessels and bring 
smaller fares. The smaller the fare, if caught quickly, the whiter the fish. The longer the trip and 
the larger the fare, the yellower the fish. If yon will examine transverse sections of Georges codfish 
and Grand Banks codfish from the top to the bottom of the keuches with a microscope you will notice 
that the fibers of the Georges are full of white gluten while those of the Bank codfish are crushed 
and flattened down, and there will be a variation in the fish according to the part of the kench they 
come out of. Grand Banks codfish and Alaskan, I think, are caught on trawls and they struggle on the 
bottom ; while they are worrying on the hook and struggling to escape, the blood settles in against 
the skin. They may be very white on the face for all that, if they are well washed and soaked before 
salting. 
PREPARATION OF BONELESS CODFISH. 
The preparation of boneless codfish is doubtless the most important development 
in the handling of dried fish during the present century. For several years prior to 
1870 the need was felt of some method of packing dried fish in neat packages of small 
but definite weight. A number of processes were devised and patented, but very few 
of them were found of practical value. 
In 1868 William D. Cutler, of Philadelphia, Pa., patented* a process by which the 
fish were divested of skins and bones and run through a machine adapted to grinding, 
so as to thoroughly disintegrate the fiber of the fish, and if very fat and oily the 
disintegrated mass was then subjected to pressure to remove the superabundance of 
oil. It was then spread upon metal, stone, or other suitable surface, heated by means 
* Letters Patent No. 81987, dated September 8, 1868. 
