650 INFLUENCE OP FOOD PRESERVATIVES ON HEALTH. 



The daily average quantity of fat in the food of the nine men 

 included in the general average is 91.11 grams for the fore period, 

 89.40 grams for the preservative period, and 87.26 grams for the after 

 period. Of this quantity there appear in the feces of the fore period 

 3.19 grams, of the preservative period 2.72 grams, and of the after 

 period 2.87 grams. Expressed in percentages of the total quantity of 

 fat in the food, the amount excreted in the feces of the fore period is 

 3.50 per cent, of the preservative period 3.05 per cent, and of the 

 after period 3.29 per cent. 



These data show a tendency on the part of the preservative to 

 increase the absorption of the fatty substances in the alimentary canal 

 and to decrease the quantity appearing in the feces. This tendency is 

 only partly overcome in the after period, during which the quantity of 

 fat excreted is greater than in the preservative period, but less than 

 in the fore period. 



In the consideration of the fat balances it should be remembered 

 that the experimental work continued from October to December. 

 The colder weather might have been expected to cause a more com- 

 plete oxidation of the fat ingested in the food, and the data show such 

 a condition in the preservative period; therefore the effect produced 

 can not be ascribed entirely to the preservative. In the after period, 

 however, the amount of fat excreted increases slightly, which would 

 seem to indicate that the increasing cold weather had no marked effect. 



