FOOD VALUE OF SEA MUSSEES. 
123 
successfully cultivating mussels by the buchot method on our shores. No serious 
objections having yet been found to the bed system, we are left to utilize that method 
with better hopes of success, unless in the meantime a better method is devised. 
POISONOUS MUSSELS. 
Mussels, like oysters, clams, and other shellfish, are subject to contamination from 
parasites, bacteria, and the ptomaines generated by these, which render them a dan- 
gerous food unless selected with proper care. Cases of serious illness from eating 
poisonous mussels are known and a number of persons have died from the effects. The 
same is true of oysters and clams, and inasmuch as the symptoms in all the cases are 
similar, there is nothing here to indicate that the mussels are not just as safe a food 
as the other shellfish when gathered with the same precautions. If they are collected 
from pure water and eaten in a fresh condition, they are a wholesome food. It some- 
times happens, however, that the individual is peculiarly susceptible to poisoning from 
shellfish, and such persons I would advise to abstain from eating them. 
The most common cases of poisoning from mussels and other shellfish are due to 
ptomaines, which are poisonous substances resulting from the action of micro-organisms 
upon the animal tissues. Their formation usually, although not always, accompanies 
putrefaction and they are said to be most abundant in its early stages. It is therefore 
safest to prepare for the table only shellfish that are in a healthy, living condition. 
Dead mussels should never be purchased. Good specimens are free from any stale 
odor and do not remain with the shells open after being slightly irritated. They defy 
all efforts to open their shells until the muscle which holds them shut is cut. 
Dangerous intestinal troubles, followed by eruptions on the skin, have been known 
to result from eating apparently fresh mussels. Various explanations have been offered 
to account for these effects. Goode (1887) states that the Alaskan Indians, recognizing 
this fact, eliminated it by removing the byssus or beard whenever it had a greenish 
color, which was a sign that the animal had been feeding upon poisonous material. 
Better evidence, however, shows that these evil effects come rather from mussels which 
grow in impure waters, and that the injurious qualities lie in the liver rather than the 
byssus. 
In the year 1885, at Wilhelmshaven, Germany, a large number of people were taken 
seriously ill after eating the sea mussel, Mytilus edulis, gathered from the harbor of that 
place. Several died from the effects. The symptoms of the poisoning were of three 
kinds, (1) a swelling in the head and abdomen, with the appearance of red spots on the 
body; (2) diarrhea, cramps, and prostration; and (3) paralysis. 
A careful study of the conditions revealed that the water from which the mussels 
were taken was stagnant because of the inclosing breakwater, which cut off the effects 
of the tides. Although no sewage emptied into the harbor and ships were forbidden 
from dumping refuse into the water, the stagnated water was so impure that its effect 
upon animal life was highly injurious. Fishes that found their way in through the sluice 
gates soon became so sluggish that they could easily be caught by hand. Eels were 
