XXXI -CASES OF POISONING CAUSED BY SPOILED CODFISH, 

 AND THE UNNECESSARY PROHIBITION OF THE SALE OF RED- 

 DENED CODFISH.* 



By Dr. E. Mauhiac. 



By a circular dated December 31, 1885, the minister of commerce in- 

 structed the prefects to prohibit the sale of red codfish throughout the 

 entire French territory. The prohibitory orders of the prefects, issued 

 in accordance with this circular, threatened venders of reddened cod- 

 fish with articles 423, 471, and 477 of the penal code, and the law of 

 March 27, 1851, relative to the suppression of frauds in the sale of goods, 

 i. e., they may be punished by imprisonment, fines, seizure of their goods, 

 and the publication of the judgment by means of placards; moreover, 

 dealers are made responsible for any cases of sickness which may be 

 caused by the use of red cod. This prohibitory measure, which was 

 taken in consequence oi several cases of poisoning caused by spoiled 

 codfish, has raised energetic protests in all the ports where fishing fleets 

 are fitted out, and especially in Bordeaux, which is the most important 

 center of the codfish trade. 



At the urgent request of interested parties, indorsed by the deputies 

 and senators from the sea-board departments, the new ministeff of com- 

 merce, Mr. Lockroy, has withdrawn the circular of his predecessor, 

 until fuller information on the subject could be obtained; but this with- 

 drawal is only temporary and not final, as some papers have erroneously 

 stated. 



We have therefore deemed it useful to make an exhaustive study of 

 this whole question, and to submit the results to the Bordeaux Society 

 of Medicine and Surgery and to the central Council of Public Hygiene 

 of the Gironde. 



Our work is divided into five parts: 



(1) In the first we give a brief historic review of all the cases of 

 poisoning caused by spoiled codfish, which, as far as our knowledge 

 goes, have been noticed in the annals of science. We give at the same 

 time a sketch of the symptoms which have been found to accompany 

 these cases of poisoning. 



* li Des accidents toxiques occasionne's par In morue avariee, et de I 'inter diction de la mise 

 enventedes monies rouges." From the Journal de Medtcine de Bordeaux, vol. xv, 1886, 

 p. 425. Translated from the French hy Herman Jacobson. 



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