BUREAU OF CHEMISTKY. 285 



been put up in tin containers. The cause of the deterioration of the 

 chloroform has not been definitely ascertained, but it is thoujjht that 

 it may be due to the tin containers. The United States Pharma- 

 copoeia specifies that chloroform shall be packed in glass. 



Eggs. — Continued attention was <riven by all inspection districts 

 to the shipment into interstate commerce of decomposed shell e<^gs. 

 Much work has been done by the bureau in previous years to educate 

 shippers to candle e^r^s and reject as near to the point of production 

 as possible those which showed signs of deterioration or spoilage. 

 It has been the practice for country stores to buy small lots of eggs 

 and hold them without refrigeration for several days before ship- 

 ment in order to accumulate larger lots. When the eggs reach the 

 large centers they are candled and the shipper is paid only for the 

 good eggs. However, the off eggs not infrequently are later sold 

 to the retail trade and then to consumers. If the eggs are candled 

 and the off eggs rejected by the country store, the transportation 

 charges are saved and there is little chance that the off eggs will reach 

 consumers. As a result of the educational work of the bureau and 

 of State officials, a larger and larger proportion of the shell eggs are 

 being candled before shipment. Regulatory action has been taken 

 in those cases where shippers did not heed the warnings of the 

 department. Several seizures have been made and a number of 

 prosecutions instituted. The inspection work during this year indi- 

 cated that there. has been a marked improvement in the quality of 

 the shell eggs shipped into intei-state commerce in several sections 

 of the country, but need for further work is indicated in other 

 sections. 



The central district has inspected the sanitary conditions and 

 quality of eggs used in a number of plants where broken eggs are 

 })acked and frozen for use by hotels and bakers. Appropriate action 

 will be taken in those instances where the frozen-egg products 

 shipped into interstate commerce violate the provisions of the food 

 and drugs act. 



Fish. — The Food Administration during the war encouraged the 

 use of fresh fish and greatly stimulated the use of this wholesome 

 food. The Bureau of Chemistry has done much work to improve the 

 methods of handling, packing, and shipping fresh fish so they will 

 reach inland consuming centers in a good condition. As a result 

 larger quantities of fresh fish are being shipped into interstate com- 

 merce each year. The eastern and central districts have given con- 

 siderable attention during the year to seeing that fish shipped into 

 interstate commerce is not contaminated or decomposed through in- 

 sanitary handling, that misbranding as to the variety of fish is cor- 

 rected, and that the quantity of contents of fish in package form is 

 correctly stated. A survey has been made of the fish industry of the 

 Great Lakes and of the Atlantic coast, particularly that of New 

 England. Regulatory action has been taken when necessary to 

 correct violations of the law. 



Several carload shipments of spoiled canned salmon from the 

 Pacific coast were seized in the central and eastern districts on in- 

 formation furnished by the western district. Fifteen thousand cases 

 of spoiled salmon had been exported from Seattle, Wash., in 

 1920 to Vancouver, British Columbia, to escape seizure by the 



