172 PROCEEDINGS OF TWENTY-SIXTH FRUIT-GROWERS' CONVENTION. 



Let US see how he does this. There are two different methods 

 employed. First, the harmful and sometimes poisonous to the human 

 system; and second, the deceptive and fraudulent, but not injurious to 

 the health of the consumer. 



The first class is the more important for us to consider. The mate- 

 rials used as adulterants act as preservatives or antiseptics. These are 

 added to the foods or food products for the purpose of killing germ life or 

 arresting and inhibiting fermentation. Those that are more com- 

 monly used are: Salicylic acid; boracic acid, or borax; sulphurous acid; 

 formalin. 



Before discussing these compounds in their relation to food, it seems 

 pertinent to inquire into their effect on digestion. 



Digestion, whether it be salivary, gastric, or pancreatic, is a process 

 of fermentation due to the soluble enzymes present in the different 

 liquids; consequently, any compound that will prevent fermentation 

 will hinder digestion. All chemical agents which precipitate pepsin 

 arrest digestion, and generally the ealts of the heavy metals exert this 

 action, as lead acetate, copper sulphate, mercuric chloride, alum, etc. 

 Neutral salts of the alkalies and alkaline works, as NaCl, Na2S04, 

 MgS04, and Kl, hinder peptic digestion. Sulphurous acid arrests it. 

 Dr. Allan states: ''The changes by which native proteids are split up, 

 with successive formation of soluble and diffusible products, commence 

 in the stomach, continue in the duodenum, and are completed in the 

 small intestine." These changes are apt to be retarded or entirely pre- 

 vented by the presence of certain drugs and other foreign matter, such 

 as coloring matter and antiseptics or food preservatives. Hence, the 

 influence of such bodies in the processes of digestion and assimilation 

 is a matter of considerable practical importance. When present in 

 excessive quantity such additions can hardly fail to retard and inter- 

 fere with digestive action; but the effect of the small proportions 

 generally employed is less certain, and very little authentic information 

 exists on the subject. But we must never forget that there is the 

 accumulative action of drugs when very small quantities are employed 

 for a long time. 



The Select Committee on Food Adulteration, which sat during the 

 sessions of 1894, '95, and '96, reported that in their opinion the use of 

 antiseptics in food is one which deserves further investigation, by 

 recognized scientific authorities, with a view to an expression of an 

 opinion that would be regarded as authoritative. The editor of the 

 Lancet accordingly addressed letters to various leading members of the 

 medical profession, asking the following questions: 



First — Is the presence of salicylic, boracic, or benzoic acid or of 

 formalin in food, in quantities sufficient to preserve it, injurious to 

 health? 



