1036 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [10] 



poured on moist pieces of muscle of codfish, it will be found that after 

 ■having been kept in a stove heated to from 30° to 35° C. [80° to 95° F.J 

 red color develops and gradually covers all the parts exposed to the 

 air. The microbes causing this coloration are, therefore, aerobies (pro- 

 duced by the action of the atmosphere). 



"By successive experiments, and by varying the physical and chem- 

 ical conditions, Messrs. Carles and Gayon succeeded in eliminating a 

 large number of live organisms; and when they closed their investiga- 

 tions there were only two kinds left, a bacillaria and a micrococcus, 

 which, when mixed, invariably produced the red color, although it 

 could not be determined which part each took in this process. It is 

 remarkable that these infinitesimal organisms can live on sea-salt; they 

 even develop on salt crystals which are merely moist, but not on all 

 kinds of salt." 



On the other hand it appears from recent investigations made in the 

 hygienic laboratory of the medical school of Bordeaux, by Drs. Layet, 

 Artigalas, and Ferre, that " in examining the red matter of the codfish 

 under the microscope we find, after it has been dissolved in water or glyce- 

 rine, that it is composed of (1) crystals of sea-salt; (2) lanceolate 1am- 

 elhe; (3) a granular substance; (4) muscular elements; and (5) special 

 elements, resembling in shape the elements called sarcines, found not 

 only in decaying but also in sound substances. They represent quar- 

 ters of a sphere joined by a common diameter. Taken by themselves, 

 each one of these elements is transparent and colorless, but when 

 grouped in masses, forming several layers, it can easily be seen that 

 the center has a rosy color. The coloration, therefore, seems to be due 

 to the greater or less quantity of these elements. One of the gentlemen 

 who made these experiments was of opinion that the red color was pro- 

 duced exclusively by the sarcinoid elements. 



The three gentlemen arrived at the following conclusions as the result 

 of their microscopical examination: 



(1) There are, on the surface of the codfish showing a red color and 

 in the interstices between the bundles of the surface muscles, special 

 organisms of a vegetable nature which constitute the coloring elements. 



(2) These elements are found in masses, together with a granular sub- 

 stance composed of single or double grains, zooids, and detritus. 



(3) These colored masses are particularly dense round the salt crys- 

 tals, appear to penetrate with them into the interstices between the 

 bundles of muscles, and to reach small cavities when these open on 

 their level. 



It was important to know whether these small cavities were found in 

 the sound codfish, without red color. This could easily be ascertained. 

 Cuts made in a sound codfish showed these cavities formed of radiating 

 lamella, more or less filled with detritus. They are, as in the red cod- 

 fish, found in the first central muscular layer, in the shape of grains 

 producing a screeching noise when rubbed on a plate of glass. 



