STERILIZATIOK OF MILK. 145 



Salicylic Acid seems to be the more common chemical 

 used for preserving milk. It has, however, serious disad- 

 vantages. Not more than 75 centigrams per liter (about 

 10 grains per quart) can be applied before its characteristic 

 taste appears too strongly. By the application of this 

 quantity the coagulation of the milk is retarded, but its 

 acidity increases. It is besides notable that the antiseptic 

 influence of the salicylic acid appears best if the milk is 

 kept at the temperature of 68 - 77 F. ; at 77 - 104 

 F., e.g., it can hardly be observed. Bersch states that by 

 an addition of .1 to .2 gram of salicylic acid to one liter of 

 recently-drawn milk it may be kept sweet for six days 

 longer than it would if it had not been treated in this 

 way. As regards the injurious effect of salicylic acid on 

 human health, Kolbe claimed to have proved that this 

 acid is excreted very rapidly from the full-grown animal 

 body, for which reason no injurious accumulation is to be 

 feared in consuming an article of food preserved with it; 

 but the application of salicylic acid for the preservation of 

 milk is at the present time condemned from a hygienic 

 point of view. For this reason its use is, e.g., in France 

 entirely prohibited as a preservative of food products. 



Borax and loracic acid also are often used for preserv- 

 ing milk. As early as 1883, however, Forster warned 

 against the application of these substances for the object 

 mentioned, as even in small doses they exert an injurious 

 influence on human digestive organs. Many other scien- 

 tists, as Bersch and Duclaux, express themselves in the same 

 direction. 



The addition to the milk of one or the other substance 

 must always be considered an adulteration in case the 

 consumer is not informed thereof; for such substances 



