BACTERIOLOGY OF REDDENED COD. 59 



bacteria were found very deep in the tissue, it seemed probable thai 

 the entrance was gained by breaks in the tissue due to handling. 

 Where the tissue remained firm and penetration depended wholly 

 upon invasion of the connective tissue, few organisms were found 

 and these were only short distances from the surface. Fish which 

 become very red show only surface involvement except in open 

 fissures. These fissures are produced very easily in the salted fish, 

 and infection takes place so readily that there is difficulty in securing 

 sterile pieces, even though the surface is removed with a sterile knife. 

 The effect of the microorganisms upon the muscular bundles is to 

 produce a softening and crumbling of the side involved. 



The mold is also a surface-growing organism. It produces slight 

 depressions or pits at the points of attack. The filaments do not 



>enetrate the muscular bundles, but do follow the interconnective 



issue for short distances. 



PATHOGENESIS. 



In the studies thus far made upon the red cod no pathogenic prop- 

 rty has been ascribed to the organisms except when they become 

 mixed with other organisms which cause decomposition. It is re- 

 iably stated that employees at the factory prefer the fish which have 

 ust started to redden, much as some people prefer beef which has 

 >een held in cold storage until it has " furred," or a Virginia ham 

 until it has " aged." Before the advent of the fish cake it was the 

 ustom to hang .the whole dried fish in a shed until used, and the 

 )resence of a little reddening was not looked upon as in any way 

 leleterious. Reddening may be considered as a warning that other 

 pganisms may find entrance and thereafter cause decomposition. 



OTHER ORGANISMS. 



In the plate cultures made from the red spots and the mold there 

 were usually other organisms developed, but these were not constant. 

 The pink yeast, S. glutinis, occurred a few times, red colonies of 

 bacteria occasionally, and a bacterium which produced yellow colonies 

 quite often. Other forms which are common in the air were often 

 present. The fish itself sometimes has a decidedly green tint, but 

 he juice expressed from the flesh thus colored was nearly free from 

 >rganisms, other than the occasional ones always found, which were 

 ^n the surface; this would indicate that the coloring must be due 

 ;o other than bacterial causes. 



Specimens of reddening were obtained from the marshes in the 

 vicinity of Gloucester and along the coast as far as Lynn. The 

 owor part of the marsh grass in places had a decidedly reddish or 

 Mirphsh red color, due to an adherent slimy material. This was 



