USE OF SALICYLIC ACID AS A PRESERVATIVE. 1038 



SALICYLIC ACID. 



Salicylic acid was discovered in 1838 by Piria. 1 He prepared it by 

 oxidizing the oil of Spiraea, ulmaria. In 1843 Proctor 2 discovered it in 

 oil of wintergreen, and Cahours 3 prepared it from this source in 1844. 

 In 1852 it was synthetically made by Gerland. 4 In 1860 Kolbe and 

 Lantemami 5 discovered a process for preparing it from carbolic acid, 

 and in 1874 Kolbe 6 so improved the method as to render the acid com- 

 mercially available. It is from this time that the use of the acid as a 

 food preservative may be dated. Shortly after discovering his im- 

 proved method for its preparation, Kolbe made an extensive study of 

 the antifermentative action of salicylic acid which extended over the 

 space of a year or two. He came to the conclusion that the acid 

 restrained or prevented the action of organized ferments, and like wise 

 that of unorganized ferments, to some extent, but that it was harmless 

 to animal life. In the course of one series of experiments he took a 

 daily dose of salicylic acid for over a year, commencing with half a 

 gram and gradually increasing it to 1 grams daily. He reports his 

 health to have been the same as usual during this experiment. He 

 also administered the acid to others, and reports the same result. He 

 strongly advocated its use as a food preservative. 



Since that time the use of salicylic acid for this purpose has steadily 

 increased, and there are probably now few canners who do not at least 

 occasionally use it. The aggregate of the amount used yearly by the 

 canners and sold for home use in the form of fruit preservatives must 

 be very large. Most of the secret preservatives sold by the druggists 

 and others owe their activity to its presence. 



The use of salicylic acid as a food preservative has been forbidden 

 by several European governments. France prohibited it in 1881, and 

 renewed the prohibition in 1883. 



An exhaustive discussion of the propriety of the use of salicylic acid 

 as a food preservative took place at the Nuremberg meeting of the 

 Freie Yereinigung der bayerischen Vertreter der augewandten Chemie, 

 August 7 and 8, 1885. The association refused, by a practically unani- 

 mous vote, to sanction the addition of salicylic acid to beer. A special 

 committee of the Paris Academy of Medicine 7 reported on this subject, 

 that, while persons in good health might suffer no injury from the iuges- 

 tion of such small amounts of salicylic acid as are liable to be contained 

 in food, this did not necessarily hold good for the aged or for those in 

 feeble health. Persons suffering from dyspepsia or diseased kidneys 

 it was found were especially sensitive to the action of this substance. 

 The report closed with a recommendation that the addition to food of 



1 Amer. J. Phann., August, 1843. 5 Lieb. Ann., 115, 201. 



2 Ann. de chim. et de pliys., 1838, 69, 298. < J. prakt. Chein., 2, 10, 93. 



3 J.prakt.Chem., 29, 197. ' Hull de 1'Acad. de m<>d. (Paris), 1886, 



4 Quarterly J. Chein. Soc., 5, 133. 16, 582. 



