56 Ninth Annual Keport or the 



of salt in butter or cheese, or spirituous liquors in club or other 

 fancy cheese or sugar in condensed milk. That there are ex- 

 ceptions mentioned indicate that the questions of harmlessness 

 or harmfulness was considered by the Legislature. There was 

 the forum in which this defendant should have urged the harm- 

 less character of preservaline. The Legislature determined that 

 some preservatives at least were harmful. 



Defendant doubtless will loudly take issue with the state- 

 ment that all " preservatives " are harmful, and will urge on 

 the contrary that his preservaline is as harmless as the best 

 milk from a Jersey dairy. That is one of the marvelous dis- 

 coveries of science of this age. He surely will not urge that 

 all " preservatives " selling on the market are harmless. In 

 competition with his rivals in the market place we know that 

 he vouches only for his own product. We know also that his 

 competitors return his compliment and vouch only for the harm- 

 lessness of their product. There can be no doubt that at least 

 some " preservatives " are harmful. 



4. In protecting the public health from some harmful pre- 

 servatives the Legislature may prohibit the sale of all preserva- 

 tives in the exercise of its discretion. 



The plaintiff alleges that all preservatives are harmful. The 

 defendant insists that all or at least some are harmless. This 

 court cannot take to itself, nor does it want to do so, the duty 

 of determining when any prohibited article is harmful or harm- 

 less. This court can, however, take judicial notice of the effect 

 of chemicals in food to decide that some chemicals inserted in 

 food which would preserve the food and thereby become en- 

 titled to the name " preservative " are in fact harmful to diges- 

 tion and to the public health. The word " preserve " and the 

 noun " preservative " does mean harmlessness as applied to 

 preservation of iron by paint from rust, but when the word 

 " preservative " is applied to a chemical reaction in food it 

 does not follow that the food thereby is not injured as food by 

 reason of the very reaction which has been necessary to pre- 

 serve it. 



