758 INFLUENCE OF FOOD PEESEEVATIVES ON HEALTH. 



prized for its effect upon rheumatism and gout, it does not seem that 

 there should be any warrant in this fact for its promiscuous use in 

 foods, even if it were harmless. 



The data show very clearly that salicylic acid and salicylates appear 

 to exert an exciting influence upon the activities which take place in 

 the alimentary canal, stimulating the organs to greater effort, and this 

 stimulation leads at first to increased solubility and absorption of the 

 foods which are introduced into the stomach. In the light of the data 

 which are exhibited salicylic acid may be said to increase the solu- 

 bilit}^ and absorption of the food in the alimentary canal, so that larger 

 parts of the nutrients taken into the stomach actually enter -the 

 circulation. 



The data which show the effects just noted also indicate that the 

 general effect upon the system is depressing, in that the tissues are 

 broken down more rapidly than they are built up, and thus the normal 

 metabolic processes are interfered with in a harmful way. The 

 administration of the salicylic acid is attended by a gradual decrease 

 in the weight of the subjects, although the quantity of food elements 

 administered during the preservative and after periods is slightly 

 increased, which fact, together with the greater degree of absorption 

 of the food elements, should have resulted in a slight increase in 

 weight. This increase in weight, however, does not occur, and the 

 disturbing influence of the salicylic acid upon metabolism, although 

 not very great, is specifically demonstrated. 



The final conclusion in this matter, therefore, is that the unenviable 

 position which salicylic acid has heretofore held among preservatives, 

 in being regarded as the most injurious of all, is to a certain extent 

 undeserved. Like other ordinary preservatives, it is not one which 

 can be classed as a poison in the usual sense of the word. When 

 used as a medicine in many cases of derangement of health it is like 

 the other chemical preservatives, often highly beneficial when properly 

 prescribed by a competent physician. It is when used in the food at 

 first an apparent stimulant, increasing the absorption and solubility of 

 the common food elements from the alimentary canal. It soon, how- 

 ever, loses its stimulating properties and becomes a depressant, tend- 

 ing to break down the tissues of the body more rapidly than they are 

 built up. It disturbs the metabolic processes, in most cases producing 

 conditions which are not normal and which, apparently, are not bene- 

 ficial. It has a tendency to diminish the weight of the body and to 

 produce a feeling of discomfort and malaise, which, while not marked, 

 is distinctly indicative of injury. In some cases these symptoms of 

 malaise approach illness, and while not always diagnostic are suffi- 

 ciently common to point unmistakably to the salicylic acid as their 

 origin. It places upon the excretory organs, especially the kidneys, 

 an additional burden which they are not able to bear and which can 



