James Harrison was a Scotsman who built an ether-based vapor-compression refrigerator for an Australian brewery. Vapor-compression refrigeration is a process where the refrigerant goes through phase changes, which is one of the many refrigeration cycles and is used mostly as a method of air-conditioning in buildings and vehicles. In 1873, after his refrigeration system for the brewery was a success, James Harrison decided to transport meat on a refrigerated ship from Australia to England. Harrison's compression system, however, failed at sea. Then in 1879, Harrison tried again. A ship equipped by Harrison left Melbourne and anchored in London two months later with forty tons of beef that was still frozen. Harrison's refrigeration system was a huge success and lead the way in shipping meats and other frozen items over seas.