MAINE SARDINE INDUSTRY. Al 
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. Ona 
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 ammonia 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 extr acted 
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. 
