328 WILEY- INFLUENCE OF PRESERVATIVES [April 25, 



mathematical demonstration, that any quantity of an injurious sub- 

 stance added to a food product must of necessity be injurious, pro- 

 vided it is in the nature of a drug and the body is in a perfectly 

 healthy normal condition. 



Hence the argument which has been so persistently urged in 

 favor of a chemical preservative that if in small quantities it is 

 harmless is shown to be wholly untenable. Where there is no neces- 

 sity for the addition of a harmful substance, where no particular 

 benefit is secured thereby, and where there is no disturbance of the 

 normal state of health there can be no possible excuse of a valid 

 nature to offer for the exhibition of even minute quantities. That 

 these minute quantities would not be dangerous, in so far as pro- 

 ducing any fatal effect is concerned, is conceded, but that, in the 

 end, they do not produce any injury, even in these small quantities, 

 is certainly to be denied. 



The course of safety, therefore, in all these cases is to guard the 

 opening of the door. If the use of small quantities is permitted, 

 then there can never be any agreement among experts or others 

 respecting the magnitude of the " small quantity," and continued 

 litigation and disagreement must follow. On the other hand, when 

 the harmfulness of any substance which it is proposed to add to 

 food is established and no reason for its use can be given other than 

 the convenience, carelessness, or indifference of the manufacturer, 

 the exclusion of such bodies entirely from food products follows as 

 a logical sequence and a hygienic necessity. 



