360 ALBERT C. HUNTER 



flesh is firm and sweet and the viscera remain normal in appear- 

 ance. The fish at the end of the seventy-two hour period were 

 in such a state of decomposition that they were designated as 

 "stale." The eyes became slightly sunken, the gills dark in 

 color and either sour or foul in odor; the digestive tract was 

 darkened and usually rather foul-smelling. The flesh of the 

 salmon at the end of the seventy-two hour period was usually 

 soft with some sour or putrid odor. At the end of the ninety-six 

 hour period the salmon were markedly decomposed and beyond 

 the state where they should be considered as fit for food. The 

 eyes were deeply sunken, the gills blackened and exceedingly 

 foul smelling, the skin dry and cracked and the flesh very soft 

 and putrid. The viscera of such fish were always very much 

 darkened in color and very foul. As will be seen in tables 1, 

 2, 3 and 4, the total count of bacteria in the flesh from such 

 fish in one case was as high as 155,000,000 per gram. 



A study of the data in the tables has demonstrated several 

 interesting facts. The muscular tissue of freshly caught salmon 

 is sterile. In studying the intestinal contents of fishes, Eyre 

 used pieces of flesh of the fish as controls and found them sterile. 

 The counts obtained on the flesh from the belly are always higher 

 than those from the flesh of the back. Since some of the bacteria 

 in the flesh undoubtedly get there through the skin, the fact 

 that the skin of the belly is thinner and more easily broken may 

 help to explain this higher count. The very high counts in the 

 flesh from both the back and belly are sufficient to explain the 

 softening and decomposition of the tissue. In most cases the 

 fish which were washed upon arrival at the fish house had lower 

 total counts than those held unwashed. The washed fish did 

 not decompose as rapidly as did the unwashed fish. 



Results of the examination of the various organs of the body 

 would seem to indicate that the sources of infection as regards 

 these organs, and to a considerable extent as regards the muscular 

 tissue also, are the gills and mouth. It would appear that a 

 great many organisms make their way through the blood channels 

 to the viscera and the muscular tissue within forty-eight to 

 seventy-two hours after the fish has been removed from the 

 water. Rough handling of the fish will, however, break the 



