PACIFIC COD FISHERIES. 77 
been fully determined, but it is probable that the normal habitat 
of the organisms is in the salt water and lowlands along the coast, 
and, being saprophytic, they will grow upon the salt fish when 
brought in contact with them. This seems to be borne out by the 
fact that the organisms can grow freely upon fish or wood that is 
salty to any degree, and even upon the surface of salt crystals. 
Salt acts as a preservative by preventing the growth of most organ- 
isms, which would cause spoilage in foods, but it has no such effeet 
in this case. 
The finding of the organisms on the salt in the hold of a steamer 
and on the salt in the storehouses is evidence that it must have been 
infected where it was produced. The salt used is solar-sea salt, the 
salt beds are on low grounds and marshes near-by, making it easily 
possible for infection to occur during its preparation. 
As investigation has proven that winter-cured fish—which have 
been packed at a season when the growth of the organisms has been 
arrested by the low temperature—spoil when exposed to a warm 
temperature, it shows that some source of infection must be acting 
continuously. If the infection were due wholly to the salt, then the 
use of mined salt or sterile salt would suflice to prevent spoilage. 
Experiments made with the refined salts showed some improvement 
over the use of the solar salt. While the lower temperature of this 
coast in summer has aided very much in reducing the amount of 
reddened cod, part of the improvement is ascribed by some packers 
to the use of a higher grade of salt than used on the Atlantic coast. 
In the Provinces some mined salt is used, but spoilage occurs there 
also. As the spoilage is the same no matter in what form or where 
the fish may be shipped, the infection must take place during the 
preparation of the fish, and can not, therefore, come from external 
infection of the finished product. 
Should local conditions be such that the infecting organisms 
abound naturally, they may be carried into the boats, the butt sheds, 
the flake yard, the storerooms, and preparation rooms by the wind, 
on the boots, clothing, or hands of sailors and factory employees, and 
by the use of water in making pickle and cleansing the buildings. 
A Gloucester (Mass.) packer claims to have used acetic acid suc- 
cessfully in preventing fish from reddening and also in removing the 
objectionable color from specimens carrying it. His method is to 
apply with an ordinary nasal atomizer a small quantity of a 10 per 
cent solution of glacial acetic acid to the exterior of the fish. Experi- 
ments carried out by Bitting* indicated that the amount necessary 
for inhibition is about one-tenth of 1 per cent. Distilled vinegar has 
also a decided inhibiting action on the growth of the organisms, but 
* United States Bureau of Chemistry Bulletin no. 133, p. 34. 
