11 



lism and the acceleration of phosphorus metabolism. There seems to 

 be a tendency to an increased absorption from the alimentary canal, 

 especially in the cases when the formaldehyde had stood in contact 

 with the milk, and hence it is fair to presume that, in so far as the 

 digestive action in the intestinal canal is concerned, transforming solid 

 food into soluble materials which may enter the circulation, there is 

 evidently a stimulating effect produced. 



There are, however, many varying conditions which must be con- 

 sidered in properly interpreting the data. The uniformly increased 

 absorption of the proteid elements of the food, and also of the sulphur 

 and phosphoric acid, accompanied in the first two instances by a 

 decrease in the metabolized elements excreted, and in the last instance, 

 namely, phosphoric acid, by a pronounced increase in metabolism, 

 makes the explanation of the data rather difficult. Attention should 

 be called to the fact that while the variations from normal metabolism 

 are not very wide the individual data are remarkably uniform and 

 consistent. 



The conditions which are noted in the case of the proteins would 

 lead one to expect a gain in the body weight. This expectation, how- 

 ever, is not realized for either class of subjects, although the losses in 

 weight are so slight as to be practically negligible. The ratio of the 

 food weight to the body weight was uniformly maintained throughout 

 the experiment, and hence if no variations in metabolic activity had 

 occurred a fair presumption would have been that the body weight 

 would remain constant. That the change of weight was slight in 

 view of the disturbances of the metabolic functions may be accounted 

 for by the inhibiting or retarding influence of the preservative upon 

 the nitrogen and sulphur katabolism or by the slight increase in 

 water in the urine and feces. It can not be maintained, however, 

 that a retarded katabolism is beneficial to health. On the contrary, 

 a more rapid renewal of the tissues within the limits *of healthy 

 activity would be more likely to preserve a normal condition. The 

 old tissues can not be expected to functionate as perfectly as those 

 which are newer, and hence, within reasonable limits, a change of the 

 tissues of the body must be considered as necessary to a healthy con- 

 dition and the maintenance of a normal vitality. 



The medical data indicate plainly that formaldehyde, even when 

 given in small quantities, is an irritating substance to the mucous mem- 

 brane, and therefore the normal organs are at first actively stimu- 

 lated to rid themselves of the irritating foreign substance. It is not 

 strange, therefore, that this preservative had a marked stimulative 

 action on those organs and cells secreting the various digestive juices. 

 It is evident that when the digestive and excretory organs of the body 



[Cir. 42] 



