ANoVJember,bi95r'}  Pharmaceutical  Meeting.  547 
appears  to  have  been  overlooked.  This  is  the  general  practice  of 
adding  preservatives  to  food  materials  that  have  undergone  partial 
decomposition  or,  in  other  words,  practically  arresting  the  decom- 
position of  food  at  a  stage  where  the  generated  poison  does  not 
manifest  itself  by  the  accompanying  odor  of  the  more  complete 
decomposition. 
When  the  preservative  is  one  that  is  readily  detected  by  our 
sense  of  taste  or  smell,  this  constitutes,  in  a  measure,  a  warning  that 
will  tend  to  place  us  on  our  guard  ;  when,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
added  material  does  not  manifest  itself  to  our  sense  of  taste  or  smell, 
but  does  prevent  the  further  decomposition  in  the  food  material 
that  would  attract  our  attention,  we  have  the  really  dangerous  com- 
bination of  generated  poison  (ptomaines)  plus  the  added  food  pre- 
servative, and  no  marked  indication  of  the  presence  of  either. 
All  that  the  gentlemen  quoted  by  Dr.  Eccles,  or  any  other 
rational  individual,  can  and  does  ask  is  that  all  perishable  food  ma- 
terial containing  added  food  preservatives  be  properly  labeled,  so 
that  the  buyer  may  have  proper  warning  and  act  accordingly.  If  a 
manufacturer  or  dealer  wishes  to  establish  a  trade  in  perfectly 
wholesome  food,  preserved  by  the  addition  of  any  well-known  pre- 
servative, he  may  do  so  at  the  present  time  by  properly  branding 
his  product. 
Charles  H.  La  Wall  took  exception  to  some  of  the  statements 
made  by  Dr.  Eccles  in  his  paper.  He  stated  that  while  it  was  easy 
to  prove  the  harmful  action  of  the  ptomaines,  it  was  not  easy  to 
prove  the  deleterious  effects  of  the  constant  use  of  preservatives 
which  were  undoubtedly  harmful.  The  object  of  the  advocates  of 
the  addition  of  preservatives  is  not  as  altruistic  as  Dr.  Eccles  would 
have  us  believe,  but  is  for  the  purpose  of  making  money  by  market- 
ing products  which  could  not  otherwise  be  sold. 
Mr.  La  Wall  said  that  the  Doctor  was  not  consistent  in  saying  that 
he  would  only  allow  the  use  of  preservatives  in  certain  products  and 
under  certain  conditions,  for  if  all  the  Doctor's  statements  are  to  be 
believed,  it  would  be  better  to  have  a  law  compelling  the  use  of  pre- 
servatives in  every  article  of  food  or  drink. 
The  Doctor  also  confused  the  terms  decay  and  fermentation,  as 
preservatives  are  added  to  prevent  the  latter  just  as  much  as  the 
former,  and  the  latter  are  usually  dependent  upon  enzymes  for  their 
action. 
