88 BULLETIN 908, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
stage. Decomposition is indicated in the processed material in the 
case of the slightly feedy lot. 
The amount of ammoniacal material thus far reported in this 
section includes both ammonia and amines. The following data 
shew the production of amines during the course of decomposition 
of the flesh and the viscera and contents of fish. 
The flesh of eviscerated fresh fish showed the presence of 0.53 mg 
of amines, in terms of nitrogen per 100 grams of sample. After a 
portion of this lot of fish had stood for 24 hours with the viscera intact, 
samples were prepared by eviscerating the spoiled fish. The content 
of amines had risen in the flesh to 14.53 mg per 100 grams. These 
fish iad ne pronounced odor, but the bellies of the greater part were 
ruptured, and they were spoiled to such an extent as to be unfit for 
packing. 
The viscera from several lots of fresh fish, which contained feed in 
the intestines in a state of practically complete digestion, showed a 
maximum of 1.60 mg and a minimum of 1.31 mg of amines, expressed 
as nitrogen per 100 grams of sample. 
The viscera of fish, the stomach portions of which were full of 
shrimp, contained a maximum of 16.07 mg and a minimum of 12.99 
mg of amines, as nitrogen per 100 grams of sample. Some of the 
fish from which the viscera were cbtained were badly belly blown, 
while others showed only the prelimmary softening and a slight 
rupturing of the belly tissues. 
in the special investigation conducted during the fall of 1916, 
the total volatile alkaline nitrogen determined in the feed taken 
from belly-blown fish on arrival at a cannery amounted to 37.7 mg 
per 100 grams of sample. Of this quantity 20.6 mg were amine 
nitrogen, and 17.1 mg ammonia nitrogen. 
Portions of the samples of the feed itself, collected from the 
waters in the vicinity of the fishing grounds, were allowed to de- 
compose under the most favorable conditions, at incubation tempera- 
tures, and samples were taken at different periods. Ammonia and 
amines in very large quantities were found in all cases as products 
of the decomposition. 
The examination of the stomach and intestinal contents of a 
number of fish which had been out of the water different lengths of 
time showed that raw fish whose stomachs were full of undigested 
shrimp gave from 10 to 15 times the quantity of amines found in 
the viscera from fish which contained material in a more advanced 
stage of digestion. 
VOLATILE SULPHUR. 
The amount of volatile sulphur in the viscera of fish which con- 
tained feed was determined, and the results, expressed in terms of 
