254 INFLUENCE OF FOOD PRESERVATIVES ON HEALTH. 



day, no notable effects are immediately produced. The medical symp- 

 toms of the cases, in long-continued exhibitions of small doses or in 

 large doses extending over a shorter period, show in many instances a 

 manifest tendency to diminish the appetite and to produce a feeling of 

 fullness and uneasiness in the stomach, which in some cases results in 

 nausea, with a very general tendency to produce a sense of fullness in 

 the head,, which is often manifested as a dull and persistent headache. 

 In addition to the uneasiness produced in the region of the stomach 

 there appear in some instances sharp and well-located pains, which, 

 however, are not persistent. Although the depression in the weight 

 of the body and some of the other symptoms produced persist in the 

 after periods, there is a uniform tendency manifested after the with- 

 drawal of the preservative toward the removal of the unpleasant sen- 

 sations in the stomach and head above mentioned. 



The administration of boric acid to. the amount of 4 or 5 grams per 

 day or borax equivalent thereto continued for some time results in 

 most cases in loss of appetite and inability to perform work of any 

 kind. In many cases the person becomes ill and unfit for duty. Four 

 grams per day may be regarded, then, as the limit of exhibition beyond 

 which the normal man may not go. The administration of 3 grams 

 per day produced the same symptoms in many cases, although it 

 appeared that a majority of the men under observation were able to 

 take 3 grams a day for a somewhat protracted period and still perform 

 their duties. They commonly felt injurious effects from the dose, 

 however, and it is certain that the normal man could not long continue 

 to receive 3 grams per day. 



In many cases the same results, though less marked, follow the 

 administration of borax to the extent of 2 grams and even of 1 gram 

 per day, although the illness following the administration of borax 

 and boric acid in those proportions may be explained in some cases 

 by other causes, chiefly grippe. 



The administration of borax and boric acid to the extent of one-half 

 gram per day yielded results markedly different from those obtained 

 with larger quantities of the preservatives* This experiment, Series 

 V, conducted as it was for a period of fift}^ days, was a rather severe 

 test, and it appeared that in some instances a somewhat unfavorable 

 result attended it. On the whole, the results show that one-half gram 

 per day is too much for the normal man to receive regularly. On 

 the other hand, it is evident that the normal man can receive one-half 

 gram per day of boric acid, or of borax expressed in terms of boric 

 acid, for a limited period of time without much danger of impairment 

 of health. 



It is, of course, not to be denied that both borax and boric acid are 

 recognized as valuable remedies in medicine. There ar e certain dis- 



