NOTES FROM THE U. S. BUREAU OF

A CHEMICAL STUDY OF FROZEN FISH IN SHORT AND LONG PERIODS.

By E. D. Clark and L. H. Almy.

[ABSTRACT.]

CHEMISTRY.“’

STORAGE FOR

BLUEFISH, Po?ulatomtts saitatri,r, and weakfish, Cynoscion regalis, frozen bly commercial methods and stored at I 5” F., when “ glazed ” with an ice covering, remained palatable and whole- some during storage for 16 and 13 months, respectively, but be- came unpalatable after 2 years. The uneviscerated weakfish were in practically the same goto8d condition after 13 months’ storage as were the eviscerated fish. Unglazed weakfish dried out rapidly and were considered unmarketable at the end of 4 months.

The changes in the chemical composition of these fish during storage were slight in most instances. In the bluefish water- soluble, coagulable, and proteose nitrogen decreased, together with the iodin number o’f the extracted fat, while the nitrogen of amino-acids, ammonia, and amines, and the acid value of the fat increased. In the weakfish, water-s’oluble and coagulable nitrogen increas’ed at first, then decreased in all fish except the unglazed samples, in which the changes were irregular; proteose nitrogen underwent no distinctive change ; amino-acid nitrogen increas’ed slightly; increase of ammonia and amine nitrogen was marked in the glazed uneviscerated fish and but slight in the other lots; the acid value of the extracted fat increased and the iodin number decr’eased in all samples.

COMMERCIAL HYDRASTIS (GOLDENSEAL).‘. By Arno Viehoever.

[ABSTRACT.]

HYDRASTIS is one of the most important domestic drugs, and is also extensively exported. Since it is a v.ery expensive drug, its

* Communicated by the Chief of the Bureau. ’ Published in Ind. Eng. Chem, 12 (Igzo), 656. ’ Published in /. Am. Pharw. Assoc., g (1920), 779.

8%