42 COD AND OTHER SALT FISH FOB THE MARKET. 



As a result of his work on the reddening of cod, Dantec dis- 

 tinguishes two stages of reddening. The first he designates as healthy 

 red cod. In this stage the characteristics are the presence of a non- 

 viscous mucus which can be readily removed, the flesh beneath 

 being sound, and the presence of three forms of organisms an alga, 

 a bacillus, and a coccus. In the second stage, or spoiled red cod, 

 the red matter is viscous, has a strongly alkaline reaction and a 

 sickening odor. The coccus is the only organism present. He states 

 that the transformation from the first to the second stage requires 

 from two to three months. 



The alga he describes as being composed of spherical cells, from 

 12 to 18 fi in diameter, containing spherical granulations, and a green- 

 ish pigment. He used various media, but was unable to obtain a 

 pure culture. He states that the organism has no coloring power, as 

 it is found on white cod, and that it is always present in the aponeu- 

 rotic interstices of the cod. He also states that it is very probable 

 that this is the organism which has been described under the names 

 Clathrocystis and Protomycetes. 



On account of the viscosity of the red layer difficulty was experi- 

 enced in the separation of the organisms. A method which ho 

 adopted as being successful and easy of manipulation was to take ad- 

 vantage of the resistance of the spores in the bacilli. A fragment of 

 the red was separated in distilled water, then heated to 95 C. for one 

 minute. The material was then used in a plate culture. The bacillus 

 varied from 4 to 12 ^ and more according to the medium and was 

 slightly thicker than the tetanus bacillus. It was motile, slowly 

 liquefying, formed a spore at one end, and in colonies sometimes pro- 

 duced a uniform red color, or might be darker around the edges. It 

 grew best on gelatin, producing a funnel-shaped liquefaction. Dan- 

 tec ascribes the reddening in the first stage to this organism, in proof 

 of which he states that he took some flesh which was white, firm, and 

 almost free from organisms and inoculated it with the pure culture 

 of the bacillus, producing a reddening. He reports that the redness 

 was more intense on the side of the inoculated piece of fish which 

 was exposed to the salt, and also fewer spores developed than on the 

 artificial media. He also tested its pathogenicity by feeding red- 

 dened cod and also pure cultures to a dog, guinea pig, and rabbit. 

 He made subcutaneous and intra-peritoneal injections in the guinea 

 pig, with negative results in all cases. 



The coccus was present in both stages, but in greater numbers in 

 the second stage; it is grown with difficulty on artificial media, as 

 it is always associated with the other organisms. It is from 3 to 5 /x 

 in diameter, with a line present in the middle at times. On gelatin 



Dantec, M. le, Annales de 1'Institul I'astonr, 1S91, vol. .",. 



