[15] POISONING BY ELD CODFISH. 1041 



is caught till its arrival in the port of destiuatiou. But every thing leads 

 us to suppose that the origin of the trouble is iu the salt; aud if the 

 germs develop ou salt fish with au iuteusity which varies iu differeut 

 years— i. e., accordiug to the temperature, the coudition of the atmos- 

 phere, etc. — the codfish must, iu order to become a fertile soil for the 

 parasite, have commenced to spoil ou the surface." 



In short, it may be said that all the naturalists who have occupied 

 themselves with this question and the codfish dealers agree in con- 

 sidering the salt as one of the principal causes of this cryptogamic vege- 

 tation. But so far this is only a supposition, which, iu spite of its great 

 probability, needs to be confirmed by experimental investigations con- 

 ducted on scientific principles. We know that Messrs. Layet, Artigalas, 

 andFerre, of Bordeaux, and Dr. Ileckel, of Marseilles, have undertaken 

 this task, and we shall probably soon learn the results of their investi- 

 gations. 



Several means have been proposed to prevent the development of 

 red in the codfish, but so far none has proved sufficiently practical to 

 be employed. Salicylic acid, borate of soda, sulphite of soda, a freez- 

 ing process, etc., all have been mentioned. By a ministerial circular of 

 February 7, 18S1, the application of salicylic acid to articles of food 

 was prohibited. This method, therefore, could not be employed. As 

 regards borate of soda, by which it has been proposed to replace the 

 salt, and the freezing process, it must be said that these methods are 

 too expensive to be employed to any extent. 



As far as we are concerned, and until something better is found, we 

 freely give the preference to the means indicated by Mr. Carles, which, 

 if they do not altogether kill the germs, at least prevent their spread. 

 These means are the following: 



(1) Careful washing of the fresh codfish, so as to remove all impuri- 

 ties from the intestines. 



(2) Using salt obtained from mines, which is free from all germs, and 

 contains fewer deliquescent maguesiau salts. 



(3) Washing and disinfection of the vessels by fumigation with sul- 

 phurous gases. 



(4) Disinfection, by the same means, of the material, the ground, and 

 the walls of the drying-houses. 



(5) Bemoving at once from the drying-houses all organic detritus 

 produced by the washing of the fish and their immediate disinfection 

 by sulphates of iron or copper. 



(G) A final washing of the fish in water from which all organic prod- 

 ucts and deliquescent salts have been carefully removed. 



This question of the influence of the salt ou the production of the red 

 color in codfish naturally leads us to speak of the codfish termed "soft- 

 salted ;' 7 that is, insufficiently salted. It is certain that these codfish 

 spoil more easily than others, and may therefore cause cases of poison- 

 ing similar to those which have been described. Otherwise they are 

 S. Mis. 90 66 



