ORGANIC ACIDS IS 



milk after it is drawn from the udder, multiply therein, cause chemical 

 changes and affect the taste of the milk. 



Oxalic acid (CoHoOJ is found in the juices of many plants either as 

 free acid or combined with alkalies or lime (oxalis, rumex, beet leaves 

 2-10 per cent of the dry matter) and in many spoiled feeding stuffs. Oc- 

 casionally taken in small quantities it stimulates the appetite ; larger quan- 

 tities are laxative, and toxic doses produce acute gastrointestinal inflam- 

 mation. After continued consumption of moderate amounts kidney, heart 

 and bone affections may result. The latter are due to the circumstance 

 that the oxalic acid precipitates the lime salts in the food and prevents 

 their absorption. The result is lime starvation under which the bones 

 suffer most and become subject to various forms of disease (softening, 

 brittleness, etc.). The effect of the oxalic acid depends to a great extent 

 upon the form in which it is taken into the body. While sodium oxalate, 

 readily soluble, produces injurious effects even when taken in small quan- 

 tities, oxalate of lime, insoluble in water, may be taken in large amounts 

 with hardly any harmful results whatever. The injurious effects of con- 

 tinued feeding of substances rich in oxalic acid may to a great extent be 

 avoided by the simultaneous administration of carbonate of lime. Swine 

 and rabbits are much more susceptible to the effects of oxalates in feed- 

 stuffs than ruminants. In the latter the oxalic acid is destroyed by the 

 fermentative processes that occur in the paunch. The oxalic acid ab- 

 sorbed into the system is excreted with the urine, unchanged. 



Acetic acid is a constituent of many plant juices. It occurs also, in 

 conjunction with butyric and lactic acids, etc., in ensilaged and fermented 

 feeding stuffs (distillery slops in poorly conducted distilleries). Mini- 

 mum quantities of acetic acid promote the digestive processes; larger 

 amounts are injurious, retarding digestion and destroying the red blood 

 corpuscles. 



Formic acid occurs principally in dried pine needles and in nettles 

 (which latter are a popular remedy for digestive disorders of ruminants). 



Butyric acid occurs primarily in poorly fermented feeding stuffs, to 

 which it imparts a disagreeable odor and a sharp or biting taste. In 

 large quantities butyric acid is injurious. 



Malic, tartaric and citric acids occur in the juices of many so-called acid 

 fruits, in the refuse of the wine and cider presses and in various growing 

 plants. Citric acid also occurs in milk, in the seeds of Leguminosse and 

 in the common beet. All of these acids aid the digestive processes; they 

 promote the digestion of albumin, and in the presence of sugar influence 

 the solubility and absorption of certain phosphates and salts of the alka- 

 line earths which are insoluble in their absence. Their stimulating and 

 refreshing effect is well known. 



Tannic acid is found in limited quantities in many plants. Feeds rich 

 in tannic acid (kidney vetch, other species of vetch, the leaves of oaks 

 and willows, acorns) retard the digestion of albumins, affect the secre- 

 tion of milk and cause constipation. 



