94 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
mass increasing from the periphery to the center. The color would, 
therefore, appear, to be due to the greater or less quantity of these ele-' 
ments in the mass. 
But we deemed it proper to ask whether the mass of granulations 
properly so called did not aid in producing the red color. One of our 
number thought that the red was formed exclusively by sarcoid ele- 
ments. He ascertained in fact that there was no red granular mass 
without sarcoid elements, while a mass composed solely of these ele- 
ments was invariably found to be more or less red. This is, however, 
still a subject of controversy between us, and we therefore reserve our 
final opinion on this point. 
From the preceding facts, and following the micrographic examina- 
tion, we have arrived at the following conclusions: 
(1) There are on the surface of the codfish, tainted with redness in 
the interstices between the superficial muscular bundles, special organ 
isms of a vegetable nature which constitute the coloring elements. 
(2) These elements are found in masses together with a granular sub- 
stance composed of single or double grains, zooids and detritus. 
(3) These colored masses become denser when in close proximity to 
the salt crystals, appear together with them in the interstices between 
the muscular bundles, and fill the small cavities which we have de- 
scribed when these open on a level with them. 
An important point to be elucidated was whether in the sound cod- 
fish, without red, the cavities above described could be found. It 
was easy to ascertain this. Cuts made in a codfish of. this kind re- 
vealed the cavities formed of ray like lamellae, and more or less filled 
with detritus. They are found, as in the red codfish, in the first ven- 
tral muscular layer in the shape of grains making a screeching noise 
under the glass plate when the preparation is pressed. 
This kind of corrosion of the muscular fibers must therefore be at- 
tributed to an entirely different cause than the presence of the red. It 
is probably a normal production in the codfish caused by the salting 
process. 
In the codfish tainted by the red no other change is observed in the 
muscular tissue except this formation of small cavities which are found 
in the salt, the white and sound codfish, only the red finally penetrates 
the fish, continues to develop, and gains in strength. 
To sum up, it appears from this first series of experiments made by 
us that the red in itself cannot be considered as the cause of indisposi- 
tion produced by spoiled codfish, and that the poisonous character of 
the codfish depends entirely on the state of its putrid decomposition. 
In future reports we propose to give the result of our researches re- 
garding the experimental culture of the diminutive organism which 
constitutes the red in the codfish, regarding its transmission and its de- 
velopment in sound and decayed codfish, and regarding the various 
conditions (salting, packing, storing) which, from a practical point of 
