igoS] UPON HEALTH AND METABOLISM. 321 



this increased excitation that these bodies were helpful to digestion 

 and conducive to health. The nature of the investigation made it 

 impossible to determine whether any organic change took place in 

 the various organs affected, but it may be assumed that any such 

 change which these organs had undergone in the limited time was 

 not sufficient to disturb in any notable way their normal functions 

 which they would perform until the continued administration of the 

 drug produced disease due to the excessive stimulation. 



In the case of phosphoric acid, the increased katabolic activity 

 is difficult of definite interpretation, though it is established beyond 

 doubt that such an eft'ect is produced. The formaldehyde may 

 exert a selective action for those proteid bodies high in phosphorus, 

 rendering them insoluble, but in this case there would be an excess 

 of phosphorus in the feces, which is not found. Or the formalde- 

 hyde may induce a change in the process of digestion whereby the 

 phosphorus of the food is changed into a soluble and easily excreted 

 form without passing through the tissues of the body. This might 

 easily be the case if in the process of digestion the glycerol-phos- 

 phoric acid formed is transformed into soluble inorganic salts, 

 which are readily excreted. Whatever may be the explanation, the 

 changes indicated in normal metabolism, accompanied as they are 

 by the development of the symptoms described, can only be consid- 

 ered as prejudicial to health. 



The general tendency to produce a slight decrease in the tem- 

 perature of the body, assuming for the moment that the data war- 

 rant the conclusion that such a condition of aft'airs existed, might 

 well be due to the inhibition of cell activity shown by the retarda- 

 tion in the breaking down of tissues. The normal functions of the 

 body would doubtless be disturbed by such a condition, aside from 

 the irritating and other disturbing influences exerted by the exhib- 

 ited drug. 



The tendency of the preservative to produce albumin in the 

 urine, while not well marked, is at least worthy of attention. The 

 fact that only slight changes take place in the body weight is suffi- 

 ciently explained in the data and cannot be urged in favor of the 

 exhibited preservative. 



Apart from the injurious effects of formaldehyde itself, its use 



