38 INFLUENCE OF FOOD PRESERVATIVES ON HEALTH. 



EXCRETION OF THE BORIC ACID AND BORAX. 



Whether the preservative be given in the form of boric acid or 

 borax appears to have little effect upon the percentage thereof appear- 

 ing in the urine. In Tables III to VIII are found a detailed state- 

 ment of the quantity of the preservative daily given in the food, in 

 terms of boric acid, and the amount recovered in the urine, together 

 with a statement of the total amount taken during the series, and the 

 percentage of the total exhibited amount recovered in the urine. 



In Series I (Table III) it is seen that of 25 grams of boric acid taken 

 by No. 1, 86.96 per cent is recovered in the urine. In the case where 

 1 gram is given, the first day 604.9 milligrams are recovered; on the 

 second day, when the same amount is given, 871. 3 milligrams are 

 recovered; on the third day, when still the same amount is given, 902.8 

 milligrams are recovered; on the fourth day, when the maximum 

 amount is recovered during the exhibition of 1 gram, 938.7 milligrams 

 are recovered. It is apparent that there is a continued accumulation 

 of boric acid in the system up to about the fourth day, when the 

 quantities recovered in the urine remain almost constant. On the 

 cessation of the administration of the boric acid the quantity in the 

 urine rapidly falls. At the end of about the third or fourth day there- 

 after there are no longer any measurable* quantities found, but traces 

 of the preservative remain in the urine for about eight days. It may be 

 said, then, without expressing the fact accurately for every case, that 

 in about eight daj 7 s after the cessation of the giving of large quanti- 

 ties of boric acid all traces of it are removed from the urine and pre- 

 sumably from the system. It will not be necessary to go over the data 

 for each of the members of the table separately. They practically 

 illustrate the principle which is outlined by the detailed data of No. 1. 

 The largest percentage of the total exhibited amount recovered in the 

 urine is found in the case of No. 2, namely, 88.51, and the smallest in 

 the case of No. 5, 77.86. The average quantity excreted in the urine 

 for the whole number under observation during the whole of the first 

 series is 83.05 per cent. 



In Table IV are given the details of the exhibition of the preserva- 

 tive in Series II, with the quantities recovered. As has already been 

 intimated, there are very serious irregularities in this table due to 

 illness. Especially are the data for Nos. 8, 9, and 11 extremely unsat- 

 isfactory. In the case of No. 9 only 3 grams are given, excluding the 

 quantity administered in the supplementary period, and in the case of 

 No. 11 only 8 grams. Nos. 7 and 10 are the only members of the class 

 who receive the full amount. The percentage eliminated in the urine 

 of No. 7 is 81.82, and of No. 10, 82.13. The average amount elimi- 

 nated in the urine for the whole class is 82.85 per cent. 



The data for Series III are given in Table V. The data for this 

 series are also incomplete, and especially do they vary from the other 



