Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1912-12-30
INVENTs FISH PREsERvER.
Scot Claims Process Eliminates Ice
in Marketing Fresh Product.

LOnuOn, Oec. IA NerltaOle
revolution in the fish trade of the
world is .foreshadowed by the inven-
tion of a Scottish-American,. ]. R.
Henderson. who is now in London.
This is nothing less than the aboli-
tion of the use of ice for the trans
port and preservation of fresh fish.
If the process. which is under
demonstration on a small scale at
Leadenhall Market, achieves all that
is expected of it, it will be a boon
not only to the trawler and the
wholesale distributor, but also TO
the fishmonger ard the consumer.
The quantity of ice consumed in the
great fishing centers is enormous.
The benefit to the fishmonger will
consist in the better quality of his
fish and the avoidance of much waste
in unfavorable weather, while to the
consumer opens the alluring prospect
of fish with some taste of the sea still
left in it,
Mr.. Henderson informed a report
er that not a particle of chemicals
of any kind is employed; salt and
the skillful use of low temperatures
are the only influences brought to
bear upon the fish.
The whole process occupies about
six hours. First of all the fish is
placed in a cooling chamber and
slowly brought down to a tempera-
ture of 80 degrees Fahrenheit. This
part of the process takes about two
hours. Its purpose is to extract the
specific (or LATENT heat of the fish.
1t is well-known fact that with fish
which has been kept on ice, as we'll
as with frozen meat, decay starts
from within, near the bone. This is
because the latent heat, which is
very favorable to the growth of the
germs of decay, has not been re-
moved. The danger to the eater lies
in the fact that the outside of the
fish or meat may still be apparently
sound while the interior has become
unfit for food.
The latent heat having been COM
pletely removed, the fish is plunged
into a tank of sea water fortified
by the addition OF Is per cent of
salt The purpose of the added salt
is to prevent the bath from freezing
at the temperature of IL degrees,
to which the bath is reduced. At
the same time the water is kept in
rapid motion by means of en- electri
cally driven pump, which draws off
the water through one pipe and
drives it back through another.
During its passage the water
passes through a filtering chamber
charged with willow charcoal and
nodues of coke. This filtering is
important. Fish in its natural state
| contains certain noXious gases, the
liberation of which on a hot sum-
mers day makes the vicinity of even
| the smartest and best kept fishmon-
gers shop unpieasantly redolent.
The noxious gases pass into the icy
brine, to be extracted therefrom in
turn by the willow charcoal, which
has the faculty of absorbing 80 times
! its own volume of gas.
1t might be supposed that the salt
ness of the bath would impart too
salt a taste to the fish, but this is
not so, because the extreme cold
seals up the pores of the fish, pro-
ducing a sort of enveloping film. At
| the same time it either kills or, as
Henderson expresses it, gives a
nasty knock" to the germs which
crowd the surface of the fish.
After four hours the fish are re-
moved from the tank and then, be-
sides preserving their fresh appear
ance, as well as their residence, they
are impervious to decay for a week
to a fortnight-perhaps longer
In hot Australian weather" said
Henderson, Il have kept fish treated
in this way for fortnight. A par
Gel of fish is now on the way to
America, and l am awaiting a cable
announcing it's condition"