44 COD AND OTHER SALT FISH FOR THE MARKET. 



in contact with them. This seems to be borne out by the fact that 

 the organisms can grow freely upon fish or wood that is salty to any 

 degree and even upon the surface of salt crystals. Salt acts as a 

 preservative by preventing the growth of most organisms which 

 would cause spoilage in foods, but it has no such effect in this case. 



Farlow states that the organism, Clathrocystis, which caused the 

 reddening was present in the bogs, marshes, and the lowlands in the 

 vicinity of Gloucester, and that the growth was so abundant that it 

 gave a reddish or purplish tinge in the fall of the year to the vegeta- 

 tion or material infested. He found the organism in the salt used, 

 especially the Cadiz salt. Edington also found a chromogenic organ- 

 ism in the salt, to which he ascribes the reddening, in the cases which 

 he investigated. In Norway, red bacteria appear in summer in such 

 masses that the borders of the sea are sometimes colored an intense 

 red. 



The discoloration was observed and an organism obtained capable 

 of producing the reddening when grown artificially, and also when 

 inoculated on the cod. The specimens were taken from the follow- 

 ing places which had reddened the woodwork in the salt house, 

 damp places in the butt sheds, the butts in which fish had beer 

 pickled, in the cracks and on the undersides of planks on the fish 

 docks, the kench racks, and various parts of the woodwork of the 

 storage rooms. The organism is abundant and infests everything 

 with which the fish come in contact. In the salt house the wood- 

 work may show an abundant growth for a distance of 2 feet or more 

 above the floor. Planks taken from the floors of the docks will have 

 their undersides as red as if they had been painted. A dock con- 

 tractor on being questioned said that no such condition of the timber 

 existed on docks where salt and fish were not handled. The kench 

 racks and butts were so coated that there seemed to be an appreciable 

 thickness to the covering. The same was true of the wood in corners- 

 and inaccessible places in the storeroom. The reddish discoloratior 

 was observed in the marsh, but later it was established that tlu 

 organism causing it was not the same as that found upon the fish 

 The latter was obtained from the water in different parts of the 

 harbor. 



The finding of the organisms on the salt in the hold of a sail 

 steamer and on the salt in the storehouse is evidence that it must hav( 

 been infected where it Avas produced. The salt used is solar sea salt 

 the salt beds are all on low ground, and marshes are near by, making 

 it easily possible for infection to occur during its preparation. 



If the infection were wholly a local trouble, then fish caught, cured 

 and dried during cold weather should show very little reddening 



a Antoine Masnin (translated by G. M. Sternberg), Bacteria, 1SSO, p. 32. 



