The Greening of Poultry

The phenomenon of the greening of meat and poultry has been mentioned in a general way in the literature for many years. As far as can be ascertained, however, the only scientific investigation of the subject which has been made is that by Piettre ( 1 ). He states that in the case of meat “ la putrefaction avec liquefaction” is comparatively rare, while “la putrefaction verte” is quite common, being responsible for spoilage in about one-third of the meat seized in the Halle district during the years 1904 to 1911. He attributes the production of the green color to a change in the hemoglobin resulting from the action of hydrogen sulphide produced in the bacterial decomposition of the proteins of the flesh. He believed that any organisms capable of producing ammonia and hydrogen sulphide could bring about the change. However, the persistent occurrence, sometimes in pure culture, of a bacillus of the. . .