18 



4.22 per cent, and for the after period 4.21 per cent. That is. in about 

 twenty-four days the average healthy young man would consume a 

 quantiity of moist food, including water drunk, equal to his own 

 weight. 



It is seen by the above that the administration of the preservative 

 caused very little .variation in the weight of food consumed compared 

 with the w r eight of the body. 



Reduced to water-free basis, the quantity of food consumed in rela- 

 tion to the weight of the body is as follows : 



Per cent. 



Fore period % - 0.96 



Preservation period 0.99 



After period 1.01 



These data show that there is very little difference between the total 

 quantity of dry matter in the food during the three periods. The 

 total quantity of dry matter in the food consumed daily is in round 

 numbers 1 per cent of the weight of the body. For a man weighing 150 

 pounds, therefore, the quantity of dry matter daily consumed in the 

 food is about 1.5 pounds. It is also interesting to note that the daily 

 ratio of the moist food, including the water drunk, is a little more than 

 four times as great as that of the dry food. 



Similar data for the other series of observations are recorded, but the 

 further discussion of the problem is not deemed necessary. 



INFLUENCE OF THE PRESERVATIVE UPON THE WEIGHT OF THE BODYJ 



In every series there was a marked tendency on the part of boric acid 

 and borax to diminish slightly the weight of the body, although this 

 tendency was in some instances checked during the after periods and 

 portion of the loss of weight was regained. In general, however, the! 

 was a tendency to continue the loss of weight during the after period 



EXCRETION OF THE ADDED PRESERVATIVES. 



The borax and boric acid taken into the stomach during the progress 

 of these experiments were excreted almost entirely by the kidneys. I 

 the first series of experiments 83.05 per cent were thus excreted, in th 

 second series 82.85 per cent, in the third series 63.87 per cent, in th 

 fourth series 82.96 per cent, and in the fifth series 75.17 per cent. Du 

 ing the course of observation 607.4 grams of preservative were given 

 either in the form of boric- acid or the equivalent in borax, of whi< 

 468.69 grams were excreted in the urine, or 77.16 per cent of the whole 

 These numbers include the data for Series III where the quantity of the 

 preservative recovered in the urine appears to be abnormally low. I 

 round numbers it may be said that 80 per cent of the boric acid and bora 

 taken into the system in foods is excreted in the urine. It is probabl 

 that the rest is chiefly excreted with the perspiration. Only small quan 

 titles are found in the feces. 



