A%JPOrnr;i906arm'}        Use  of  Preservatives  in  Foods.  159 
it  enables  the  manufacturer  to  be  less  careful  in  other  means  of 
preservation.  For  instance,  if  he  is  putting  up  a  can  of  peaches  or 
pears,  or  anything  of  that  kind,  if  he  will  add  a  little  salicylic  acid 
he  need  not  be  so  careful  in  his  sterilization.  That  is  a  very  import- 
ant thing.  I  do  not  think  salicylic  acid  or  butyric  acid,  or  anything 
of  that  kind,  ought  to  be  allowed  in  preserving  fruits  or  jellies 
because  if  sterilization  is  complete  these  things  can  be  kept  without 
any  antiseptic  added."  The  term  "  butyric "  here  is  doubtless  a 
misprint  for  "  benzoic  "  since  the  use  of  butyric  acid  as  a  preserva- 
tive is  not  practiced  with  foods. 
I  believe,  therefore,  that  the  general  use  of  preservatives  in  the 
preparation  of  food  products  would  place  a  premium  on  careless- 
ness, dirt  and  inferiority. 
The  use  of  chemical  preservatives  is  also  objectionable  on  the 
score  of  health.  These  preservatives  in  order  to  be  effective  must 
be  in  sufficient  quantity  to  either  kill  or  paralyze  all  bacterial  action. 
It  is  reasonable  to  believe  that  a  body  powerful  enough  to  do  this 
would  be  powerful  enough  to  injure  the  cells  of  the  human  body 
with  which  it  might  be  brought  into  contact.  This  point  is  well 
brought  out  by  Prof.  W.  D.  Halliburton,  the  celebrated  physiologist, 
in  his  testimony  before  the  English  Departmental  Committee,  page 
263,  in  answer  to  question  7528,  and  following:  — 
"  I  would  say  at  the  outset  that  the  kind  of  evidence  that  I  have 
to  offer  is  not  very  largely  clinical.  The  amount  of  medical  practice 
which  I  have  seen  is  limited.  Very  soon  after  my  student  days  I 
took  to  physiological  work,  and  I  have  remained  at  that  more  or 
less  ever  since,  so  that  the  actual  observations  that  1  have  to  make 
are  in  the  nature  of  physiological  experiments,  and  deal  principally 
with  the  two  chief  substances  that  you  have  under  investigation,  as 
I  understand — compounds  of  boron  and  formaldehyde.  On  general 
principles  one  would  object  to  the  continuous  use  of  antiseptics. 
The  substance  which  would  destroy  the  life  of  micro-organisms 
could  not  be  expected  to  be  beneficial  to  the  life  of  a  higher  organ- 
ism ;  it  would  be  largely  a  matter  of  dose.  I  mean  to  say  the  same 
dose  that  would  kill  a  bacterium  would  not  necessarily  kill  a  man, 
but  still  it  would  be  hostile  to  the  protoplasmic  actions  that  consti- 
tute the  life  even  of  a  high  animal  like  man. 
"  Q.  7541  (p.  264).  Then,  as  to  boric  acid,  you  have  made 
extensive  experiments  ? — A.   With  borax  and  borates  I  have  made 
