389 
and assimilation were not seriously interfered with by borax in the 
quantities administered. Gruber (28), on the other hand, found that 
borax increases proteid metabolism and concludes that borax exerts 
no unfavorable influence on the assimilation of food. According to 
this author, no harmful effect followed a maximum dose of 20 grams. 
Forster (29), from his studies on the applicability (verwendbarkeit) 
of boric acid as a food preservative, concludes that, while boric acid is 
without influence on proteid metabolism, the continuous administra- 
tion of small amounts of it in food is not without its drawbacks so far 
as the health of the individual is concerned, and that its use as a milk 
jDreservative, especially in milk to be used by children, should be con- 
demned. G. T. Welch (30) records some alarming instances of poison- 
ing following the local application of large amounts of boracic acid ; 
and Chittenden (31) observed that while borax in moderate amounts 
exerts no inhibitory action on the peptic and tryptic digestion of pro- 
teids, in larger quantities it retards the proteolytic activity of both of 
these digestive fluids. Later, Chittenden and Gies (32) made an 
exhaustive study of the action of borax and boric acid on nutrition, 
with especial reference to their effect on proteid metabolism, the 
experiments being made upon full-grown dogs. They found as the 
result of these studies that small doses of boric acid, up to 3 grams per 
diem, are practically without effect upon the proteid metabolism and 
the general nutrition of the animals, and that even moderate doses of 
borax are practically without effect. Large doses of borax tend to 
retard somewhat the assimilation of proteid and fatty foods, and with 
very large doses there is a tendency to diarrhea and an increased 
excretion of mucus. Borax and boric acid in very large amounts 
(equal to 1.5 to 2 per cent of the food) are liable to produce nausea 
and vomiting. Both borax and boric acid are quickly eliminated 
from the body, almost entirel}^ through the urine, and in none of the 
experiments were any abnormalities in the urine observed. 
Reference has already been made to the work of Bideal and Fouler- 
ton (20) on boric acid and formaldehyde as milk preservatives. In 
this connection it may be well to call attention again to their conclu- 
sions. According to these authors, (1) boric acid, 1:2,000, and 
formaldehyde, 1 : 50,000, are effective preservatives for milk for 
twenty-four hours; (2) in these quantities these substances have no 
ajDpreciable effect on digestion or on the digestibility of foods thus 
preserved. On the other hand, according to F. J. Allen (quoted by 
Halliburton (25)), borax delays or prevents the rennin coagulation 
of milk. An excellent resume of the earlier pharmacological work 
on boric acid and borax is given by Liebreich (33). We gather from 
the data which are there presented that since its introduction into 
medicine in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries there have been 
occasional accidents and deaths from boric-acid poisoning. In these 
