CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL PAPERS. 53 



having been injured by food containing them, while, on the other 

 hand, thousands have been killed by using food that did not contain 

 preservatives. 



The pure- food laws controlling the use of these preservatives are in 

 their infancy, and, so far as they aim to accomplish salutary effect, 

 should be enforced. It is an undisputed question that there is no real 

 harm done in the use or abuse of the preservative substances, but we 

 question whether most of the real harm does not arise from the use in 

 fraudulently manipulating inferior products so as to enable the seller 

 to obtain a price of a much higher class of goods. These remarks es- 

 pecially apply to articles other than preservatives, such as aniline 

 colors used in articles of food and drink ; these colors being confined 

 principally to the reds, yellows, and browns, and are somewhat easily 

 detected by the well-known property of these colors to dye fat-free 

 woolen goods. If the coloring matter be of fruit or vegetable origin, 

 such material will be either uncoloredor changed slightly, if coal-tar 

 or aniline color be used, the woolen material will take color readily. 



To any one who is interested in the subject of food control by the 

 United States, it would be most profitable reading to take the report 

 of 635 pages issued by the government relating to the "hearings before 

 the committee of interstate and foreign commerce of the house of 

 representatives on the pure-food bills." In this report it will be found 

 that a great deal of the testimony in regard to the efPects of many of 

 the preservatives is based upon purely theoretical grounds ; for ex- 

 ample, it is stated that salicylic acid is injurious to the organs of 

 secretion ; if its use be continued, that it retards digestion. Many 

 statements are made, and confessed not to be from any personal ex- 

 perimentation. 



An American leader in the war against preservatives says : "There 

 is no preservative that paralyzes the ferments which create decay that 

 does not at the same time paralyze to the same extent the ferments 

 that produce digestion. The very fact tliat any substance preserves 

 food from decay shows that it is not fit to enter the stomach." It is 

 this kind of reasoning that has led to the swearing in court that 

 salicylic acid is dangerous to health and a poison. Salicylic acid has 

 been chosen as the sj)ecial target of attack because of one especial 

 reason of its familiar antagonistic action to ferments ; but let us re- 

 member its methyl ester is found in hundreds of plants from the 

 most diverse botanical orders. Most fruits contain it. Nature has 

 thus put it into our foods. In this respect it is like benzoic acid. 

 Doctor Eccles says, in relation to toxicity of preservatives to be 

 classed with salicylic acid : "I defy any one, if he dares to claim that 

 vinegar is not a poison, to put the matter to the test of a public ex- 

 periment with me. If vinegar is a poison, then the court's rulings, 



