582 
the feces.. All these faets find a natural ex- 
planation in a somewhat decreased carbohy- 
drate fermentation in the feces and somewhat 
increased scission of albumen, owing to cer- 
tain bacteria or bacterial functions being 
favored by the benzoic acid at the expense of 
others; no one will interpret this as being 
hygienically dubious. Herter’s values (p. 
4747) show very prettily the smooth transfor- 
mation of benzoic acid into hippuric acid; ac- 
cording to his experiments, there is no ap- 
preciable retardation. A striking fact in all 
four of Herter’s test persons was the increase 
of free hydrochloric acid in the expressed gas- 
tric juice during large benzoate doses, which 
could easily be considered as a symptom of 
irritation of the stomach, but is also capable 
of other explanations. Gerlach’s experiments 
(see below) showed nothing of this in man or 
animal. There are many other details in this 
voluminous book, but they are hardly of 
significance for the problem and I have tried 
to bring out anything that might be disad- 
vantageous for benzoic acid. 
Most perspicuous to us Germans is the in- 
vestigation carried out by Dr. Gerlach, of 
Wiesbaden, by German physiologico-pharma- 
ceutical methods and which, though far be- 
hind the American works in scope and extent, 
can be the more easily surveyed as a whole. 
Small, medium and large doses were tested 
on animals and men. JI shall not enter into 
the details of the experiments with rabbits, 
which were able to take very large doses of 
benzoic acid without any effects. One gram 
of benzoic acid was borne subcutaneously by 
a rabbit for 12 days without harm; a dog was 
fed with 7.5 grams of sodium benzoate in one 
dose without disturbing effects; in experi- 
ments on the investigator himself, 10 grams 
of benzoic acid, taken within 3 hours, had no 
influence on the pulse, respiration, body tem- 
perature, digestion and general well-being. 
(Not every stomach can stand such a dose!— 
Abstractor.) Two persons daily took 0.5 and 
1 gram of benzoic acid and sodium benzoate, 
respectively, for 80-90 days without any ef- 
fect. The most careful observation showed 
SCIENCE 
[N.S. Vou. XXXV. No. 902 
no special disturbances .of the respiration, 
pulse or body temperature after taking 1 
and 2 grams of benzoic acid and sodium ben- 
zoate, respectively. The action of the diges- 
tive ferments, gastric juice, trypsin and the 
diastatic ferments was not influenced by ben- 
zoic acid and sodium benzoate. Three and 
five grams of benzoic acid and sodium ben- 
zoate had no influence on the quantity, acid 
content and digestive power of the gastric 
juice of a dog subjected to the Pawlow opera- 
tion. Half a gram and one gram of benzoic 
acid and sodium benzoate, respectively, taken 
by the experimenter at a test breakfast, ex- 
erted no influence on the free hydrochloric 
acid, total acidity and digestive power of 
the gastric juice, collected one hour after the 
breakfast. In metabolism experiments on 
men, it was found that 1 gram benzoic acid 
or 1.5 grams sodium benzoate (each taken 6 
successive days) had no effect whatever on the 
stock of albumin in the body nor on the 
utilization of the nitrogenous substance and 
fat in the food. Eighty-two doses of 1 gram 
each of benzoic acid, taken within 86 days, 
and 88 doses, taken within 92 days, showed no 
unfavorable effects on the general well-being, 
body weight, ete. At the end of the experi- 
ments, it was found that the benzoic acid, 
whether mixed foods or chiefly vegetables 
were eaten, was completely transformed into 
hippuric acid. Gerlach collects from the 
literature a large number of cases, not all of 
which are contained in my earlier review, and 
which show that large doses of benzoic acid 
can be taken by healthy and by sick people 
without harm, and he concludes with the 
words: 
Neither the observations made in medical prac- 
tise and reported in the literature nor the large 
number of experiments which have been carried 
out for the purpose seem to justify the assertion 
that benzoic acid and sodium benzoate in small 
quantities, such as they are eaten in preserved 
foods, are able to produce any harm whatever. 
The attempt to prohibit the use of benzoic acid 
and benzoates as a preservative would therefore 
not be warranted by the very copious scientific 
material at hand. 
