10 



SULPHUR METABOLISM. 



In the sulphur metabolism the same conditions are shown to exist 

 as were found in the case of nitrogen, namely, a tendency to increase 

 the absorption of the sulphur constituents of the food and retard the 

 normal katabolic activities. The decrease in nonmetabolized sulphur 

 is a little over 1 per cent in both cases, while the decrease in metabo- 

 lized sulphur excreted amounts to 4.6 per cent for Nos. 1 to 6 and 2.7 

 per cent for Nos. 7 to 12. There is almost as close an individual 

 agreement shown in this case as in the previous balances, and there is 

 no marked difference between the summaries for those taking the 

 formaldehyde directly and those to whom it was given in milk pre- 

 served for two days. 



TABLE III. Comparative summary of principal determinations made Series IX. 

 [Averages are per man per day.] 



a Omitting Nos. 8 and 9; formaldehyde added to milk 48 hours before administration, 

 b Summary for Nos. 1-12, omitting Nos. 8 and 9. 



GENERAL CONCLUSIONS, 



A general study of all of the data leads to the conclusion that the 

 admixture of formaldehyde with food is injurious to health, even in 

 the case of healthy young men. It is fair to conclude, therefore, that 

 in the case of infants and children the deleterious effects would be 

 more pronounced. The metabolic functions are disturbed in a nota- 

 ble way, both by the retardation of the nitrogen and sulphur metabo- 



[Cir. 42] 



