[Page 9] 



Section 3 T^ethods of Imrestif^ation and Testing 



The author's Investigations and experiments are concerned with the 

 7!iarianas and I!arshalls areas. The investij^ation touched upon other areas, 

 but experiments involvini* collecting were Limited to Saipan in the Tlarianas 

 and Jaluit in the !!arshalls. 



Broad inquiries were made concerning poisonous fish amons fishermen, 

 natives, and fisheries technologists in the£;e areas. Testimony was taken 

 from those who had had experience with cnses of fish poisoaln']: r^rji fron 

 medical officers in the areas. 



In addition efforts were made to collect fishes by various methods. 

 The chief method used was driving fish into a nefc, but angllno:, long lines, 

 trawls, and underwater spearing were also resorted to. Great numbers of 

 fish were taken by the use of 6aq>lo8ivea. 



Since the nuniber of species taken was so very great, it was impossible 

 to test them all, so from them we chose for our experiments those which had 

 been reported either by informants or in the literature as poisonous and 

 those which so closely resembled this reportedly poisonous species as to be 

 easily mistaken for th«n. Tests were also made on all species which 

 appeared pronising^food fish by reason of their large size and the large 

 nuriA>ers taken. 



The fish caught were taken immediately to the laboratory where the 

 fresh coloration was recorded in drawings as rapidly as possible. The fish 

 were then preserved in formalin and later taken to Japan v^here photographs 

 were made. The plates for this book were made by taking the outline of the 

 fish from the photographs, and adding the coloration recorded in the sketches 

 made in the field. 



On fish intended for experimentation, an effort was made to record 

 accurately the time of capture in order to indicate the degree of freshness. 



Materials used in experiments with animals were, in order to simulate 

 real conditions, prepared as if actually for table use, as described below. 



A knife was inserted in the belly of the fish and the flesh was re- 

 moved from one side, taking care not to damage the viscera, and this fillet 

 was divided so as to give representation to all parts insofar as possible. 

 The blood, liver, ovaries, testes, and other viscera were likewise divided. 

 Portions of fresh muscle tissues were set aside for testing, and cooked 

 portions were prepared. These are referred to hereafter as "fresh tissue" 

 and "cooked tissue". In cooking,the tissue was placed in a covered alumlte 

 cooker with an equal quantity of water and heated over an alcohol la/rp for 

 from 5 to 20 minutes until the fluid in the vessel was almost gone after 

 which it was removed from the fire. Then test portions of approximately 

 equal weight with the test portions of fresh tissue were prepared. In one 

 or two cases salted and dried test portions were also prepared. Blood was 

 [Page 10] mixed with starch (tapioca starch) or refined fishmeal in a milk 

 bowl and weighed. 



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