IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESERVING Pilchards and other Fish.”
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Edward Fryer, of Old Palace Yard, in
the City of Westminster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PRESERVING Pilchards and other Fish.”
PRESERVING Pilchards and other Fish.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Edward Fryer
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 23rd October 1874.
i
I, CHARLES EDWARD FRYER, of Old Palace Yard, in the City of
Westminster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESERVING PILCHARDS AND OTHER FISH," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to an improved process of preserving pilchards.
and other kinds of fish in a fresh state, and without the addition of oil,-
vinegar; or any other liquid.
:
My improved process is as follows:-The fish are first thoroughly
washed, the head and gut are removed, and the fish packed in salt or
placed in brine for periods varying from half an hour to three hours, accord-
ing to their size. The fish are then washed again and hung up to dry. When

page_text: thoroughly dry they are packed in tin boxes, which are then soldered
down close and boiled in water or brine for periods varying from half an
hour to three hours, according to the size of the fish and of the boxes.
The characteristic feature of this Invention is that the boxes are
soldered down close without the addition of any liquid, and without 5
leaving any air hole by which liquid could enter, and are then subjected
to considerable heat, whereby the air is expelled from the boxes and the
fish are preserved in a fresh state for any length of time.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Edward Fryer in the Great Scal Patent
Office on the 23rd April 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
EDWARD FRYER, of Old Palace Yard, in the City of Westminster, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and soventy-four, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her licirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles Edward Fryer, Her
special licence that I, the said Charles Edward Fryer, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Edward
Fryer, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESERVING PILCHARDS AND OTHER FISH," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Edward
Fryer, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed-
in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
}

page_text: · NOW' KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Edward Fryer, do liereby:
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly. described and ascertained in-and
by. the following statement (that is to say) :-
:
My Invention relates to an improved process of preserving pilchards
and, other kinds of fish in a fresh state, that is to say, without the
addition of oil, vinegar, or any other liquid, and without loss of their
natural juices and flavor.
And in order to carry my Invention into effect I prepare the fish as
follows: The fish arc first thoroughly washed and the head and gut
removed, after which the fish are again washed in fresh water. The fish
arc then packed in salt or placed in brine for a period varying from one
hour to three hours, according to their size; thus sprats, small pilchards,
or herrings and other fish of about the same size will require about one
hour; larger fish will require a longer time. The object of this
immersion in salt or brine is merely to preserve the skin and scales, and
is not intended to salt the fish. The fish are then washed again and
hung up to dry. When thoroughly dry they are packed in tin boxes,
which are then soldered down close and boiled in water for a period
varying from one to three hours, according to the size of the boxes, care
being taken that the boxes are thoroughly immersed in the water; thus
a box of fish weighing 7 ounces will require about one hour, a box of
fourteen ounces will require about two hours, and so on. The time of
boiling is reckoned from the moment at which the water attains a boiling
temperature after the boxes have been immersed therein."
The characteristic feature of this Invention is that the boxes aro
soldered down close without leaving any air hole, and that no liquid is
used for preserving the fish. Small fish, such as sprats, herrings,
mackerel, and fish of a similar size, can be preserved whole (the head
and gut only being removed); larger fish, such as cod or salmon, can if
desired be cut in pieces before being placed in the tins.
Having described the nature of the said Invention and the manner of
performing the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be
protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, pre-
serving pilchards and other fish in a fresh state and without loss of their

page_text: natural juices and flavor by the process herein described of boiling the
same in boxes soldered down close, as herein specified.
.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Edward Fryer, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of April, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy- i
five.