106 ALBERT C. HUNTER 



Cultures 400 and 471a are identical and were isolated once 

 from salmon and once from a cannery at Yes Bay, Alaska. 



In considering the sources of these various cultures, it may be 

 borne in mind that all the isolations from salmon were made in 

 Oregon and the fact that some cultures isolated there are identical 

 with those obtained in Alaska indicates that such organisms 

 have a wide distribution. 



The frequency with which some bacteria are found in the cul- 

 tures from decomposing salmon, when considered in connection 

 with their decomposing action on fish, indicates that these organ- 

 isms play an important part in the decomposition of the salmon. 

 As explained in a previous report (Hunter, 1921) the salmon 

 cultures studied in this investigation were obtained on successive 

 days from salmon which were held under known conditions. The 

 predominance of Ps. fluorescens throughout the viscera and the 

 muscular tissue of the decomposed salmon leads to the con- 

 clusion that this organism is an important factor in the decompo- 

 sition of the salmon. Two other organisms appear to play an 

 important part in the decomposition of the salmon, namely, 

 Bact. cloacae and the flesh-colored organism designated as No. 360. 

 These organisms appear repeatedly on the plates and cultures 

 made from decomposing salmon and when grown in fish broth 

 in pure culture they produce very foul odors. As stated before, 

 the other bacteria present may be regarded as accessory in the 

 decomposition of the salmon but from this mvestigation it 

 seems evident that Ps. fltwrescens, Bact. cloacae and the flesh- 

 colored organism (360) are of greater importance than any of the 

 others. 



This mvestigation has not showTi that there are any different 

 bacteria introduced by the use of the pew, or single-tine fork, 

 than are to be found in the sea-water or m the salmon as it 

 comes from the sea-water. 



In obtaining cultures from canneries particular attention was 

 paid to the exact location within the cannery from which the 

 material was collected. This was done to determine whether 

 there was any chance of contamination of the canned fish with 

 spore-formers before cooking and also to determine whether 

 there was a bacterial flora peculiar to the cannery or whether 



