806 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXI. No. 543. 



No difficulty was experienced in separa- 

 ting these elements. It was found that 

 tantalum formed two or more double salts 

 with the fluoride of each of the alkali 

 metals. It was further shown that by 

 virtue of this fact the double fluorides 

 Avere not to be regarded as suitable material 

 with which to determine the atomic weight 

 of tantalum. Similar work was being 

 done with columbium. The latter has not 

 yet been freed absolutely from titanium, 

 although certain methods being used at 

 present promise well. 



Tantalic and columbic oxides are both 

 volatile in a current of carbon tetrachlo- 

 ride, the first yielding tantalum penta- 

 chloride and the second columbium oxy- 

 chloride. 



The Effects on Metabolism of Preservatives 

 Added to Foods: H. W. Wiley, M.D., of 

 "Washington. 



During the past three years we have 

 studied in the Bureau of Chemistry in the 

 Department of Agriculture, the various 

 effects produced upon health and digestion 

 by the addition of preservatives to food 

 products. The substances which have 

 been studied are boric acid, borax, salicylic 

 acid, salicates, sulphurous acid, sulphite, 

 benzoic acid, benzoates, formaldehyde and 

 copper sulphate. The medical effects of 

 all these bodies were carefully observed 

 and recorded. The effects on metabolism 

 were studied by weighing and analyzing 

 the foods received, and collecting and 

 analyzing the excreta of those under ob- 

 servation. The number of persons under 

 observation has, in all cases, been twelve, ex- 

 cept where accidental illness has diminished 

 the attendance at the table. The effects 

 produced upon the balance show the total 

 quantity of any element ingested in the 

 food and the amount recovered in the ex- 

 creta. The research embraced protein, 

 phosphoric acid, sulphuric acid, carbohy- 



drates and fats. Only the data for boric 

 acid and borax have been published. The 

 other data are in course of preparation. 



The general effect of borax and boric 

 acid is: (1) To diminish or tend to dimin- 

 ish the weight of the body; (2) to diminish 

 the avidity of the appetite; (3) a tendency 

 to diminish the per cent, of nitrogen ex- 

 creted, which, slightly marked in the pre- 

 servative period, was even more marked in 

 the after period, showing an accumulative 

 effect in this direction; (4) the develop- 

 ment of a tendency to increase the excre- 

 tion of phosphorus. All the data taken 

 together show that 97.3 per cent, of the 

 phosphorus digested in the food was re- 

 covered during the fore period, 103.1 per 

 cent, during the borax period, and 97 per 

 cent, during the after period; (5) a tend- 

 ency to increase, to a slight extent, the com- 

 bustion of fat in the food; (6) a tendency 

 to slightly diminish the total calories ob- 

 tained from the food; and (7) a tendency 

 to increase the quantity of solids in the food 

 eliminated in the feces. This condition is 

 easily explained in the tendency estab- 

 lished during the exhibition of the preserv- 

 ative to slightly derange the digestive func- 

 tions. The data also show that nearly 80 

 per cent, of the total borax and boric acid 

 ingested in the food are excreted in the 

 urine and the rest, apparently, through the 

 skin. 



The general result shows a greater or 

 less derangement of metabolic processes of 

 a character tending to injure the health. 



Electroanalysis iritJt a Eotating Anode and 

 Mercury Cathode: Lily G. Kollock and 

 Dr. Edgar F. Smith, of Philadelphia. 

 A number of metals may be rapidly 

 precipitated in this way. The quantity of 

 metal deposited in from four to seven 

 minutes varies from a quarter to more than 

 one half gram. The use of the mercury 

 as cathode does away with a platinum dish 



