28 BULLETIN 908, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
When landed at the laboratory 2 hours after. being taken from 
the weir these fish appeared to be in as good condition as when they 
were taken aboard. They had settled a little in the hogshead, be- 
coming more solid and compact. So far as the physical appearance 
would indicate, they were in good condition up to and including the 
6-hour period. At the end of 8 hours they had changed slightly, 
while 2 hours later a slight odor was noticeable in the hold of the 
boat and the fish seemed a trifle soft. After 12 hours had elapsed 
this softness was more pronounced, and the bellies of some of the 
fish were broken. At the end of 24 hours, although there was no 
decided odor of decomposition, the fish were soft and spoiled and 
the bellies of a number were broken. The fish on the top of the 
load had lost their luster (‘‘bloom’’) and taken on a dead whitish 
color, while those from the bottom were in worse condition, being 
badly broken and pressed out of shape by the mass above. Such 
fish were quite unfit for packing. The temperature of the fish 
in the hogshead at the end of the 6-hour period was 51° F. -The 
temperature of the water in the bay at this time and during the 
time the fish lay at the wharf was 50° F. 
The analyses of samples from this iot of fish show at the end of the 
6- and the 8-hour period a sufficient increase in the amount of 
volatile nitrogen in the viscera and contents over that found in the 
fresh fish to indicate a slight decomposition. At the end of the 12- 
hour period the decomposition in the viscera and contents was 
marked, although there was no visible evidence of decomposition in 
the flesh. At the end of the 24-hour period, however, marked 
decomposition was shown in the flesh as well as in the intestines 
and contents. 
In this experiment the fish at the top of the load did not differ in 
amount of decomposition from those taken from the bottom of the 
pile. In this shipment the water was pumped of at intervals, 
whereas in the preceding experiment it was not. Evidently this 
drainage water tends to increase the rate of decomposition of the 
fish at the bottom of the mass from which it has not been removed, 
or, as might be expected, larger quantities of volatile nitrogen occur 
in fish standing in water drained from fish undergoing decomposition. 
FisH CARRIED IN BULK, SALTED AT THE RATE oF ONE-HaLF Sack PER HOGSHEAD. 
In this experiment five tubs of fish, weighing 649 pounds, were 
employed. On being loaded, the fish were evenly salted at the rate 
of one-half sack per hogshead. The water dipped up with the fish 
was drained off and the pickle formed during the experiment pumped 
off at 2-hour intervals, with the exception of the 10-hour period. 
This pickle was weighed, sampled, and analyzed (Table 9). 
