1038 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [12] 



Professor Layet, in his recent "Notesur le rouge de la morue" (notes on 

 the red of the codfish), states that " the red in itself cannot be considered 

 as the cause of poisoning by spoiled codfish, but that the poisonous 

 character depends entirely on the state of putrid decay of the fish." 

 For more than a week he fed two cats exclusively on red codfish, and 

 these animals were not in the least inconvenienced thereby. 



We have fed two hunting dogs of medium size on a codfish which 

 was strongly tainted with red, and neither of these dogs experienced 

 any disagreeable consequences. The codfish was given to them mixed 

 with bread soaked in tepid water. It should be stated, however, that 

 this fish when split open along its entire length did not emit any putrid 

 odor, and that its iiesh had preserved its normal .consistence. 



We ourselves have repeatedly eaten red codfish without being incon- 

 venienced, and we know many places in the southwest of France where 

 the codfish sold by the small dealers frequently has a red color. 



If one considers, on the other hand, that the greater portion of the 

 codfish received in our colonies, in the Antilles, in Reunion, and in 

 eastern countries has always more or less of a red color, produced by 

 the influence of the great heat, and that the people of these countries 

 have been in the habit of eating such codfish every day, from time im- 

 memorial, without experiencing any injurious consequences, we are 

 forced to the conclusion that the red color of the codfish has nothing to 

 do with the poisonous nature of the decaying flesh. 



But, it will be said, if red codfish are not injurious to health, why 

 has their sale been prohibited, as a hygienic measure % Here the ques- 

 tion becomes somewhat complicated. 



Mr. Berenger-Feraud says in his treatise: "If the red is not poison- 

 ous in itself, it seems certain that, when closely examined, it acts in a 

 powerful manner in producing or aiding the decay of the codfish, and 

 the decay always began, as far as the codfish served to the garrison at 

 L'Orient is concerned, coincident with the appearance of the reddish 

 color. In those parts w T hich first turned red, and in their immediate 

 surroundings, the flesh was first noticed to become soft, moist, and 

 crumbling, and finally the putrid odor first began to show itself in these 

 1 tarts." 



Further on the same author states : " In my opinion, therefore, the cod- 

 fish sometimes undergoes a change whose first indication is the growth of 

 the red cryptogam referred to. It is true that this cryptogam, iu itself, 

 lias not the property to render the flesh poisonous, but it will, under 

 certain special conditions — for instance, when the weather has for some 

 time been moist and hot — favor a putrid decay of a greater or less por- 

 tion of the codfish." 



According to Dr. Berenger-Feraud, therefore, the red, although not 

 poisonous in itself, is one of the determining causes of the putrid decay 

 of the codfish. It probably (the author is not absolutely sure) hastens 

 the putrid decay of the flesh; and this is the only effect of the kind 

 Which it produces. 



