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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 
observed to lose almost all their vitality during the summer. Mussels from these waters, 
when cooked and fed to rabbits, acted as a most virulent poison, killing them in from 
two to ten minutes. If the mussels were transferred to places where currents of pure 
water could flow over them they lost all their poisonous properties; and, on the other 
hand, if harmless mussels were transferred from outside waters to the harbor they 
acquired poisonous qualities in less than two weeks. 
Virchow (1886) and Wolff (1886) affirm that the poison was not the result of any 
decomposition and that the mussels had no external signs of disease. Wolff’s experi- 
ments indicate that the liver is the sole source of the poison. Inoculations from that 
organ into rabbits and guinea pigs were fatal in every case in from two to twenty min- 
utes, while inoculations from other parts were without effect. He believes that the 
poison originated in the liver and was not due to the absorption of copper salts, as 
popularly believed. 
Another record of a serious case of poisoning from the eating of mussels by a party 
of Alaskan Indians is briefly mentioned by Dali (1870) and Petrol! (1884). In response 
to a request for further details of the incident Doctor Dali wrote me the following story, 
which is amplified somewhat from notes gleaned from the references just cited: The 
Sitkan natives, being able to get better prices from the Hudson Bay Company, refused to 
trade with Baranoff, the Russian director of Alaska. Baranoff therefore resorted to 
importing, on a sailing vessel from Unalaska and Kodiak, a large number of Aleut 
hunters with their skin canoes, to take sea otter in the islands of the Sitkan Archipelago. 
In the year 1799 a party of about 200 camped on the shores of the strait separating 
Baranoff from Chichagof Island, where the tides are great and at low water expose great 
numbers of mussels. Being accustomed to eat them at home, the Aleuts gathered a 
quantity of mussels and feasted upon them. In a few hours they were taken violently 
ill, and 150 died within a day or two. This incident gave rise to the name Peril (in 
Russian, Pogibshi) Strait, which name it bears to this day. Mussel poisoning in this 
region is known to have occurred on other occasions and is supposed to be due to the 
ptomaines developed in the liquor of the mussels exposed to the sun. Doctor Dali was 
informed by the Aleuts that specimens not actually out of water were always safe. 
In Audot’s “La Cuisinere de la Ville et de la Campagne,” page 677, a paragraph is 
devoted to the symptoms and treatment of mussel poisoning. A free translation of it 
is as follows : 
The true cause of the poisoning produced by mussels is not yet known, but it is a mistake to attribute 
it to the presence of the small crabs which are found in their shells. The opinion more generally accepted 
to-day is that the mussels, by attaching themselves to the bottoms of ships sheathed with copper, 
absorb a certain quantity of verdigris, which produces the poison causing indigestion. Whether this 
is so or not, the use of these mollusks sometimes leads to symptoms of very serious poisoning, of which 
the more common are: A sharp pain in the region of the stomach, violent cramps, severe contractions 
of the chest, an alternating quick and slow pulse, a redness and swelling of the face, an eruption of little 
red spots upon the skin, cold sweats, and oftentimes convulsive movements and delirium. 
When these symptoms manifest themselves it is necessary to combat them promptly by employing 
an emetic (2 grains of emetic in a glass of tepid water taken several times at six-minute intervals), and 
