COMMERCIAL PRESERVATIVES 159 



quantity they will wholly prevent putrefaction, and even 

 in small quantities they may so check the growth as to pre- 

 serve the food much longer than usual. For this reason 

 they are extremely convenient and have been .widely used 

 by people who do not understand what they are. Some 

 have found them so convenient that they have given up 

 the use of the refrigerator or other devices for producing 

 cool temperatures, feeling that it is much cheaper, as well 

 as more convenient and more satisfactory, to keep their 

 food by adding a small quantity of preservaline or similar 

 substance, than to use ice. The various forms of pre- 

 servatives may be used for almost any kind of food, — for 

 canning fruits or vegetables, for preserving milk, meat, 

 etc., — and, so far as concerns the actual protection of food 

 from decay, they certainly accomplish their purpose. 



But the important question arises whether it is health- 

 ful to use such materials in our food. Every one of them 

 is of a more or less injurious nature, and if taken into the 

 body in any considerable amount will produce poisonous 

 effects. This has led to much experimenting and discus- 

 sion. In past years a considerable portion of the food 

 products on the market has been treated with some of these 

 food preservatives, — borax being widely used for this pur- 

 pose. In the markets of Europe some of these substances 

 are used to preserve a large part of the meats, butter, milk, 

 etc. England obtains great quantities of her provisions 

 from America and even Australia, and it seems difficult, 

 or impossible, to deliver them at such long distances with- 

 out treating them with preservatives. At all events, the 

 foods coming from Australia to the markets of England 

 are usually so treated. The use of preservatives in our 



