148 American Fisheries Society 



is commended to the chemists and engineers for study; we 

 cannot doubt that a few years will bring forth a complete 

 solution of the problem o-f recovering things of value from 

 brine that will make us wonder why we ever threw it away. 



ACCESSORY AGENTS IN SALTING 



Various other chemicals are sometimes used in salt, or 

 along with it for various purposes. Some of these will be 

 briefly discussed. 



Saltpeter performs two functions in brine for the preser- 

 vation of meat, namely, it combines with the red substance 

 of blood, hemoglobin, which is unstable, to form a perma- 

 nently stable red derivative, nitroso-hemoglobin. By virtue 

 of its oxidizing power it may also oxidize hydrogen sulphide 

 into sulphur dioxide and water, i. e., a very foully odoriferous 

 stuff to a substance which both bleaches and sterilizes. Salt- 

 peter is, however, little used in curing fish, for the red color 

 is undesirable, and hydrogen sulphide is rarely troublesome. 



Boric or boracic acid is added to the final application of 

 salt to dried salt cod. This is to prevent reddening. Un- 

 doubtedly it does do so, and undoubtedly most of it is re- 

 moved from the fish when the latter is soaked up before cook- 

 ing. Nevertheless, the writer is of the opinion that the end 

 of this practice is not distant. Boric acid has long ago been 

 condemned as a food preservative. With the comparatively 

 small amount of scientific investigation that has already been 

 done, we have reason to hope that not only can reddening 

 be prevented, but that by the general refinement and improve- 

 ment of methods it will become unnecessary to use artificial 

 preservatives to prevent reddening. Of course, it devolves 

 upon the scientists to make good these claims and expectations, 

 but it devolves upon the fish industry to provide the scientists 

 and provide them with means to make good. 



A method of promoting the preservation of fish by salt 

 by the aid of sodium hypochlorite along with the salt has been 



