MAINE SARDINE INDUSTRY. 41 



was measured, weighed, and analyzed. The results of the analyses 

 are given in Table 17. 



A gradual loss of water occurred during the entire period the fish 

 remained in the salt until at the end of 12 hours a reduction of 11.07 

 per cent in moisture is noted. This loss was accompanied by an ap- 

 parent gain in fat of 2.43 per cent, which, however, on being calculated 

 to a water free basis, becomes an actual loss of 3.10 per cent. On a 

 moisture, fat, and salt free basis 4.06 per cent of nitrogenous material 

 was abstracted from the fish by the action of the salt and brine. 

 The amm onia and amine nitrogen content, which fluctuated mark- 

 edly, showed a general tendency to decrease in accordance with the 

 length of time the fish remained in salt. 1 In this particular lot of 

 fish the maximum amount of salt was absorbed during the 8-hour 

 period. 



As soon as the fish are placed in salt the formation of brine begins, 

 and the results of analysis of the brine show that appreciable quanti- 

 ties of nitrogenous extractive material passed into this brine formed 

 from water removed from the fish. The maximum amount of nitroge- 

 nous material was abstracted during the 4- and 6-hour periods of the 

 time in salt, although the greatest quantity of brine was collected at 

 the end of the 6-hour period. The quantity of nitrogen in the brine 

 increased from only 206.3 mg during the first hour to 1,865 mg at 

 the end of the second hour and was then fairly constant. The largest 

 amount of nitrogen was obtained in the next period or at the expira- 

 tion of 4 hours, during which time a total of 1,992.5 mg of nitrogen 

 passed into the brine. During the next 2-hour period, in which 

 the "largest amount of brine was formed, the amount of nitrogen 

 abstracted by the brine was but a few milligrams less than that found 

 in the previous period. 



The nitrogenous material extracted during the 8-, 10-, and 12-hour 

 periods diminished noticeably, though still fairly large. The amount 

 of ammonia and amine nitrogen per 100 cc of brine increased notice- 

 ably from the first hour on. The largest amount was found at the 

 expiration of the 6-hour period, when a total of 90.3 mg is shown, 

 after which a gradual decline is indicated. The greatest amount of 

 amino acid nitrogen obtained, 435.9 mg, was found in the brine for 

 the 4-hour period. This corresponds to the period in which the 

 largest amount of protein material was abstracted. The total quantity 

 of nitrogen in the brine for the entire 12-hour period was extracted 

 at the rate of 152.4 mg per pound of fish. 



The figures in Table 18 showing the loss of weight and the per- 

 centage loss of the total amount of fish and salt are interesting. 



1 The ammonia content of the fish in this experiment was high because the samples had begun to 

 deteriorate before the determination could be completed, and may also have been influenced by irregu- 

 larity in salting and sampling. 



