234 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



as quickly as possible and precipitated with three times its volume of alcohol. The 

 precipitate is dissolved in water, filtered, and reprecipitated with alcohol. This pre- 

 cipitate is collected on the filter and washed with alcohol and then allowed to dry. A 

 white powder is obtained which browns a little in the air and which almost completely 

 dissolves in water. When precipitated again the substance is obtained in pure form, 

 but naturally the quantity is very small, scarcely more than 5 g. from 24 kg. of mussels. 

 When injected intravenously into dogs it produces diarrhea, bloody stools, rectal 

 pain, vomiting, prostration, and decrease of arterial pressure. Autopsy reveals an 

 intense hemorrhage of the mucous digestive lining, including the stomach and rectum. 

 The poison produces the phenomenon of anaphylaxis; that is, the animal can withstand 

 a comparatively heavy dose at the first injection, but a short time after that it becomes 

 extremel)- sensitive and dies when injected a second time with a small fraction of the 

 original amount. The difference in sensitiveness to the mytiloeongestine between 

 normal and anaphylactic dogs was found to be about 1 -.25, while in an extreme case it 



was 1 :ioo. 



CONCLUSION. 



What has been stated above furnishes no evidence to support the assumption that 

 the sea mussel is a dangerous food, but it sounds a warning that it is just as capable 

 as the oyster or any other shellfish of transmitting typhoid fever if it is taken for 

 consumption from waters polluted with sewage containing the germs of this disease; 

 and that if taken from water so stagnant that it makes the fishes and eels which 

 inhabit it lose almost all their vitality, as was the case at Wilhelmshaven, then it is 

 apt to contain a poison which is rapid and severe in its effects. It should be 

 borne in mind, however, that mussels possessing this poisonous qualitv are very rarely 

 met with, and to the knowledge of the author have never been discovered on either the 

 Atlantic or Pacific coasts of the United States. 



Finally, let it be noted that all sea mussels which have been found unwholesome or 

 dangerous to human health have come from waters polluted with sewage, from stagnant 

 basins, or were-exposed to the heat of the sun for such a long period that ptomaines were 

 able to develop in the liquid held within the shell. On the other hand, mussels from pure 

 water subject to the ebb and flow of the tides have always been found wholesome and 

 delicious articles of food. If selected and marketed with due regard for the facts already 

 mentioned, it is probable that their use in this country will never be accompanied bv the 

 disasters which have occurred in certain localities of Europe. 



CULTIVATION OF MUSSELS. 



In the past few years there has been considerable talk of the sea farms of the future. 

 It has been predicted that the fisherman will grow his oysters, clams, lobsters, etc., under 

 artificial cultivation in a manner similar to that employed by the farmer in raising his 

 crops. The idea, however, is not new, for centuries ago, in the year 1235, a shipwrecked 

 sailor was rescued at the point of Escale, about a mile and a half from Esnandes, France, 

 where, in order to earn a livelihood he devised a system of myticulture that has yielded 

 wonderful results. The method proved so successful that it has been continued to the 

 present day in this locality, where it gives support to 3,000 or more inhabitants of the 

 villages Esnandes, Marsilly, and Charron. If one should visit this locality in the Bay 



