8 FOUL BROOD IS BEES. 



of them may be used, under all circumstances, insuring success. 

 Some are too poisonous to be used in septic diseases of the living 

 animal organism ; others are ineffective in certsiiu diseases. Some 

 of the less poisonous have been tried to cure foul brood without the 

 least success; especially has that been the. case as to phenol and 

 thymol, as, also, borax. 



II. It is also well known, especially to the medical profession, 

 that acids and alkalies are incompatible ; that is, if one is given as 

 a medicine, to produce a certain effect, as a general rule the other 

 must be avoided. There are exceptions, of course, which may be 

 stated thus: If the acid to be used as a medicine is very strong, a 

 weak alkali may be permissible without interfering with the action 

 of the medicine, and vice versa. 



III. It is also well known that chemicals used as remedies or 

 medicine, which would, on mixing, exchange component parts, can 

 not be given together, and should not be mixed. 



ISTow, what is borax? Answer: Biborate of soda ; that is, a chem- 

 ical combination of two parts of bor'acio acid and one of soda. 

 Those conversant with chemistry know that, in aqueous solutions, 

 boracic acid is one of the weakest acids known, and, also, that soda 

 is one of the strongest alkilies. ISTow, let us see what takes place 

 on mixing these two chemicals, salicylic acid and borax. Salicylic 

 acid decomposes the borax, to illustrate which I will subjoin the 

 following diagram: 



( biborate of ^ boracic acid free in solution. 



^°'^^~ 1 Soda 

 { Salicylic anid — - sa.licylatp, of soda. 



It will be seen by the above diagram, that, instead of having 

 salicylic acid and borax in solution, we have boracic acid and sali- 

 cylate of soda (or sodium). But it is well known that salicylate of 

 sodium is entirely worthless as a disinfectant, which is true, not 

 only of this chemical, but of all other salts of salicylic acid. The 

 acid itself must be employed if a reliable disinfectant is desired, to 

 corroborate which, I refer the reader to the article on Salicylic 

 Acid in the Dispensatory of the United States, 1877, 14th Edition. 



It is quite a matter of course that attempts to cure foul brood by 

 such a compound could not but be accompanied by entire failure. 

 Those claiming to have been successful with it, probably never had 

 a case of genuine foul brood. 



By employing the solutions I shall recommend, and by strictly 

 observing all precautionary measures mentioned, the affected colo- 



