STUDIES IN 

 PHYSIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY 



THE INFLUENCE OF BORAX AND BORIC ACID 

 UPON NUTRITION, WITH SPECIAL REFER- 

 ENCE TO PROTEID METABOLISM.* 



BY R. H. CHITTENDEN AND WILLIAM J. GIES. 



IN view of the widespread use of borax and boric acid as food 

 preservatives it is somewhat singular that our knowledge of 

 the influence of these substances upon the nutritional processes 

 of the body is so slight and uncertain. E. de Cyon,f M. 

 Gruber,^ and J. Forster have indeed studied the action of 

 these agents upon proteid metabolism, but with results which 

 are utterly lacking in harmony. Thus Cyon's work with 

 borax seemingly indicates that proteid metabolism is diminished 

 under its influence, i. e., that borax tends to protect the 

 consumption of proteid matter in the tissues. Gruber's 

 experiments, on the other hand, indicate with equal positive- 

 ness that borax has no proteid sparing power, but really leads 

 to an increase in the rate of proteid metabolism. To add to 

 the uncertainty, the experiments with boric acid carried out 

 under Forster's supervision tend to show that this agent is 

 wholly without influence upon proteid metabolism. Obviously, 



* Reprinted from the American Journal of Physiology, vol. i. 



t Cyon, Sur Faction physiologique du borax. Comptes rendus, 1878, tome 

 87, p. 845. 



i Gruber, Ueber den Einfluss des Borax auf die Eiweisszersetzung im 

 Organismus. Zeitschr. f. Biol., 1880, Band 16, p. 198. 



Forster, Ueber die Verwendbarkeit der Borsaure zur Conservirung von 

 Nahrungsmitteln. Nach Versuchen von Dr. G. H. Schlencker aus Surakarta. 

 Archiv f . Hygiene, 1884, Band 2, p. 75. 



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