BORIC ACID UPON NUTRITION. 17 



after the last dose had been taken. These observations accord 

 with Johnson's statements * that borax and boric acid begin 

 to be eliminated through the urine a short tune after their 

 administration. 



While it is clear from a study of the nitrogen excretion that 

 proteid metabolism, under the conditions of this experiment, 

 is not materially affected by borax, the other analytical results 

 must not be overlooked. Thus, in the borax period the 

 excretion of phosphorus, sulphur, total sulphuric acid, and 

 combined sulphuric acid is slightly below that of the fore and 

 after periods. The differences, however, are so small that it 

 is perhaps unwise to draw any positive conclusions from them, 

 other than to admit their negative character. It can certainly 

 be asserted with perfect safety that the borax has failed to 

 exert any marked influence upon the excretion of either sul- 

 phur or phosphorus. In this connection it will be remembered 

 that Forster f found, on feeding boric acid to man, a marked 

 increase in the output of phosphoric acid. Borax, however, 

 certainly fails to produce any such result, its presence in the 

 body (of the dog) tending on the other hand to reduce the 

 output of phosphorus. Further, it is evident that the slight 

 diminution in the excretion of combined sulphuric acid is not 

 sufficient to indicate any inhibitory influence upon intestinal 

 putrefaction. Lastly, the figures obtained in connection with 

 uric acid are such as to indicate a purely negative action. 



Second Experiment. With Boric Acid. The animal ex- 

 perimented on was a short-haired mongrel bitch weighing 8 

 kilos. Nitrogenous equilibrium was quickly established on a 

 daily diet composed of 160 grams of the prepared meat, 40 

 grams of cracker dust, 30 grams of lard, and 400 c.c. of water. 

 This diet contained 6.144 grams of nitrogen and was practically 

 adhered to throughout the experiment. The latter was of 

 thirty days' duration, i. e., three periods of 10 days each. 



* Johnson, Ueber die Ausscheidung von Borsaure und Borax aus dem 

 menschlichen Organismus. Jahresbericht f. Thierehemie, 1885, p. 235. See 

 also, Vigier, Note preliminaire sur 1'action physiologique du borate de soude. 

 Comptes rendus Soc. de Biol. Paris, 1883, p. 44. 



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



2 



