PROCEEDINGS OF TWENTY-SIXTH FRUIT-GROWERS' CONVENTION. 173 



Second— Should the use of antiseptics for this purpose be forbidden 

 by law altogether? 



Third — Should legislation be brought to bear on the restriction of the 

 amount? 



Fourth — Should the law insist that when preservatives are used the 

 fact should be stated on the labels? 



The answers to the above questions were published in the Lancet for 

 1897, page 56, et seq. 



Sir Henry Thompson holds that the addition of antiseptics was 

 undesirable, though unable to produce evidence that any of them had 

 given rise to deleterious action; owing to the impossibility of isolating 

 the precise influence of the drug. He objects strongly to the dietetic 

 use of drugs, and is of the opinion that the name and quantity of the 

 antiseptic employed should be on the label, etc. 



Dr. Pavy does not consider our knowledge sufficiently extended to 

 permit of its being taken for granted that no injury is producible, 

 though there is no evidence of injury to health. He points out that 

 it is the vendor and not the consumer who is benefited. He considers 

 that notification of the fact of antiseptics being employed and their 

 nature and amount would be sufficient. With the public interest thus 

 safeguarded he thinks that advantage might be taken of the power 

 of antiseptics in preserving articles of food. 



Dr. F. J. Allan points out the possibility of daily accumulation of 

 antiseptics quite sufficient to produce a gradual lowering of the standard 

 of health; and is of the opinion that the fact of an antiseptic being 

 added, and its nature, should be required, by law, to be announced at 

 the time of sale. 



Dr. Sims Woodhead draws attention to the idiosyncrasy and cumula- 

 tive eft'ecty and dwells upon our ignorance of the action of certain drugs 

 (formalin) on foodstuffs. He points out that by the use of preserva- 

 tives foods of inferior quality may be doctored. He would make the 

 use of antiseptics illegal, unless their nature and quantity be made 

 known. 



Dr. T. L. Brunton writes that we must remember that poisons are 

 formed in food by spontaneous decomposition, which may take place 

 after purchase. The question to be decided comes to be whether anti- 

 septics are likely to be more injurious to health than the natural products 

 of decomposition. (I do not consider this point well taken. There 

 should be no necessity of choosing between antiseptics and food poisons. 

 Our food should be fresh and in such good condition that there should be 

 no opportunity for spontaneous decomposition.) His own belief is that 

 preservatives are less injurious, and the answers are: 1. The use of anti- 

 septics should not be forbidden by law; 2. It is doubtful whether legis- 

 lation should restrict the amount, as manufacturers will probably use the 



