544 ALBERT C. HUNTER 



medium, aerobically and anaerobically, for one week at 30°C. 

 They were examined daily for the evolution of foul odors and 

 for any digestion of the fish in the bottom of the tube. At the 

 end of one week each culture was tested for indol production 

 with paradimethylamidobenzaldehyde and hydrochloric acid. 

 Only those cultures which produced indol, foul odors, or both, 

 in this medium were saved for further study. In this manner 

 the original number of cultures was reduced to 65 and these 

 organisms were then studied in more detail in order to check 

 the duplicates. The author, however, is aware that, while the 

 discarded organisms had no putrefactive action in pure culture, 

 they may assist in the decomposition of the salmon when asso- 

 ciated with the bacteria which have been studied. In spite of 

 this fact the present study has been limited to those cultures 

 producing indol or foul odors when grown in pure culture. 



On the basis of their morphology and their reactions in litmus 

 milk, gelatin, potato, tryptophane broth and glucose, lactose 

 and sucrose broths these 65 cultures were compared and dupli- 

 cates eliminated so as to reduce the number to 43. Although 

 some of these 43 cultures were very similar in many respects 

 they all varied sufficiently to be considered different organisms 

 and each of the 43 was studied and identified. 



Of the 235 cultures rejected as playing no part in the decom- 

 position of the salmon 4 were yeasts, 16 micrococci, 43 strepto- 

 cocci and 172 bacilli of varying morphology. All of the organ- 

 isms regarded as significant in the decomposition of the fish are 

 bacilli. Six of the cultures are pigment producers while the 

 remaining 37 produce no pigment. The cultural reactions of 

 these 43 organisms are summarized in tables 1, 2, and 3. For 

 convenience the results are given in three separate tables, table 

 1 being the reactions of those organisms, exclusive of the pigment 

 producers, which liquefy gelatin, table 2, those which do not 

 produce pigment and do not liquefy gelatin and table 3, those 

 which produce pigment. 



In studying these bacteria but little attempt has been made 

 to identify any of them, except the pigment producers, as specific 

 organisms. It may be that an extended series of tests in various 



