72 THE JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY. 



tion it is not possible to form any idea as to what the nature of the illness 

 of the inmates was. One may pass over the question as to what symp- 

 toms were exhibited by the hens, and what were the appearances that 

 would have been present in the post-mortem examination (which was not 

 made), and I put to Dr. Robinson the question, if he has not observed, 

 after blanc-mange, after ice, and particularly after milk, similar sudden 

 illness without any boric acid having been present. It is not uncommon 

 for illness to ensue if food has been kept in vessels in contact with 

 metal, as in the case of blanc-mange, often occurs. But the first ques- 

 tion for a sanitary officer to settle was the mode of preparation of 

 the blanc-mange. In the cookery books of different nations the in- 

 gredients are stated as follows : Milk or cream, bitter almonds, sugar, 

 gelatin, vanilla, lemon peel and bay laurel leaves. From this it 

 is evident that it is not impossible that things may have been 

 present which are known to afford opportunities for poisoning to occur. 

 Vanilla is often such a cause, and the possibility for poisoning even by 

 prussic acid exists through an excess of bitter almonds being used. The 

 bitter taste of these is by no means a protection to the people partaking of 

 the food, for the laurel leaves and lemon cannot only conceal this, but the 

 combination with bitterness may also add an extra flavor. Also, the milk 

 may have already been poisonous before the addition of the boric acid, 

 and it is well that boric acid only prevents the further formation of toxic 

 bodies without destroying those already existing. Of not one of these 

 possible contingencies has Dr. Annett taken any account and it is now 

 impossible to determine whether any of these same factors were present. 

 One can, however, through investigations on hens, prove Dr. Robinson's 

 assertion that the boric acid contained in the blanc-mange was the cause of 

 the illness of the people and of the hens, is without foundation. It should 

 have been Dr. Robinson's work to investigate this and show whether hens 

 can be poisoned or not by feeding them on blanc-mange to which boric acid 

 has been added before he alarmed the world by making public so startling 

 an assertion. For this purpose it was only necessary to clear up the 

 whole question by so simple an experiment as the following. 



I placed nine fowls for several days on ordinary corn-feeding, and ob- 

 serving that one showed some signs of respiratory trouble it was discarded 

 and the following investigation was carried out on the'remaining eight. 

 On the first day one liter of milk and six grammes and five decigrammes of 

 boric acid and 200 grammes of maize- flour were made into a thick porridge, 

 which was equivalent to one ounce and i6>^ grains in one gallon. This 

 corresponded to a blanc-mange, and on it the hens were fed. On the sec- 

 ond day they received the same feeding, and on the third day half of the 

 same feeding. In three days the hens had each received about two 

 grammes, or 30.68 grains, without any disturbance in health being notice- 



