Eight groups of six pigs were obtained, two sources of supply x meal-fed and swill-fed x ''light'' (37 to 35 kg) and "heavy" (66 to 88 kg). The pigs were slaughtered, weighed, graded, chilled, split and the sides wrapped in stockinet and polyethylene, frozen in a room at below -30 "C and stored commercially at below -20 "C.Corresponding sides were withdrawn after four and nine months, weight losses were measured and samples cooked and submitted to a panel for appraisal of any differences in flavour. Samples of the fat of each side were also investigated chemically for extent of oxidation of the fat.There were no significant differences in flavour attributable to weight range, with either meal-or swill-feeding nor any chemical indication of oxidative rancidity.

The edible portion nnd tho fnt nnd protein contenta of thu Ilc~h of various fishes n(rect their contribution to the Ikitish diet. Ilcs11ltrc are discueeed for the most importnnt ~Aible slnxics. Fish muaclo contains tittle connectivo tissue nntl them nw indicntions of scvernl unknown protein frnctions. The non-protein nitrogenous ertrnctivcs nntl their relation to keeping quality nm also c l i s c u~~d . QUAITITIES AND TYPES OF BRITISH FISKThis pnpm deals with the chcmicnl composition of the edible pqrtion of iish hi the rnw stntc, hot taking,nccount of vitnmins, nunernls, trace elements, ctc., which will be discussed by Lovern.1The great variety of species presetits n complication in denling genernlly with fish ns food. Some clnssificntion must be ndopted to show the relative quniititntive importance of slwcies, nnd this is done in Tnbles Ia niid Ib for the dcinersnl and pelagic marine fishes.g. The sclieriie ndopted has, upnrtfrom tho " JIiscellaneous " group, considerable bnsis in zoologicnl and, us rill be seen later, to some extent in biocliemicnl relationships. Amongst the demersal or " white " fishes, the prepoiidernnce of the Gadidm is striking, in particulnr, the contribution made first by the cod. nnd then by the hnddock. Xext in order come the " flat fishes " with the plaice greatly predonlinnting, but only cquivnlent to some third part of the lnndings of the linddock. This group contains most of whnt ore nt present regnrdcd as the choicest species, but ns JIcCnnce and Shipp' justly remnrk, this hns no relation to nutritive vnlue. Each about hnlf AS importnnt ns tlic flat fislies nre the Elasmobrnnchs nnd the " ilIiscellnncous " group in Table Ia. Amongst the pelngic fishes, tlie herring is by fur the predoriiinont species, being comparable iu importance with tlic cod.Of the frcs~iwater fishes (~u b~e IC), oily imported cnuned salmon is conipnrable with the ninrino species in the quantities consumed. Of home-caught frcsiiwiitcr species, only snlmon6. nnd both of which x p i d n proportion of tlicir life in the xen, nre widely enten in this country, iilthough in countries wit11 large rivcrs nnd * rkes the fresliwnter fisheries are of considcrablo economic importance, and on the continent are augmcnted by pisciculture. Cnrp is the fish most usunlly doniesticnted and large farms nre kept going on towns' wnstc, with quite economio returns.' Efforts nrc now being made to organise n commercial fishery for perch in some of the lnrger Britisli Inkcs, in which they nre n pest. Up to dnte s m l l fry have been cnuned on n sin1111 scale with fuir ~uccess. ((1) Sheiffiah Nomny lobstor, prawn, shrimp, clam, m n w l , cockle, cscnllop, Crub, lobster, cruwftsh, o y t e r (uot sold by weight-npproxi-queen, priwinklo, wholk . .070

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July, 1114s simplicity in operntion nnd giving optimal qunlity in both the raw and precooked product. At this teniperature the time required to dry raw meat was considerably longer thnn for precooked meat, mainly on nccount of very slow drying in the later stnges. A great improvement ivns brought nbout by remilicing nfter nbout 75-85y0 of the original moisture hod been removed (Fig. 2). Howdver. after a fnir trial i t wns renlised that the qunlity of dried raw nient was, at its best, not equal to that of dried precooked meat. Further, the risks of bncterinl contaminntion and proliferation during drying were much liiglier nnd on nil counts, therefore, tlic drying of rnw meat wns considered inferior to that of precooked. Nevertheless, should it appear in the future that dried rnw meat possesses any ndvnntnge (e.g., from the nutritionnl or technicnl point of view) these results show that it is quite fcnsible nnd mny forni a bnsis for commercial dcvelopment. Propertics of air-driecl meatIn the dry statc the ment was dnrk brown in colour and conrsely' grnnulnr in form. Enten in thc dry state it hnd little flavour and wns likely to be hard and gritty on account of the dry unnltered collagen which it contained. When moistened, dried prccooked meat reabsorbed wnter easily. If, as was found to be preferable, thc ment WRS only lightly cooked before drying, it needed to be cooked for e l hour after it wns reconstituted t o prepare it for the table. The meat, so prepnred, wns prnctically indistinguishable from cooked fresh minced meat.Air-dried raw meat did not reabsorb moisture so readily nnd needed to be soaked for several hours before cooking. The cooked mince tended to be rather drier in texturc thnn fresh mince nnd to have n slight " twice-cooked " flavour.The loose, grnnulnr, dried ineat hnd a bulk density of about 0.5. If full ndvnntnge were to hc token of thc poteutial saving in storage spnce nfforded by the removnl of water, it was necessary to increase the density of packing by compression. By comparatively light pressure-300 to 400 Ib. per sq. in.-the density was increased to nenrly 1.0. With dried nieat of the composition Rimed nt, the pressure that could be applied n t ordinnry temperatures wns limited to about 1OOO-1200 Ib. per sq, in. Above this pressure fat wns CXtruded. The blocks so formed were slightly elnstic, but by compressing in moulds about 3 in. less in each dimension than the container to be used, it was easily possible to pack dried meat a t n density of 1 g. per C.C. of the container volume. This wns ndopted as the stnndnrd pack. The great ndvnntagc of partinl, as compared with full, precooking lay in the preservation of the structure of tho compressed dried meat prepnred by the former process. The slightest breakdown of collngen to gelatin during precooking caused an incrense in brittleness of the grnnulcs of dried meat, with the consequence thnt thc reconstituted mince contained n proportion of unplensnnt, fine " sludge." This wns pnrticulnrly evident in thc cnse of meat cooked under pressure. C...

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