AmApOrliir;i?06arm'}        Use  of  Preservatives  in  Foods.  163 
Dr.  Vaughan  this  morning  or  by  the  selection  of  the  Secretary  of 
Agriculture  (in  view  of  the  fact  that  many  people  who  have  investi- 
gated those  subjects  are  inclined  to  take  a  not  altogether  common- 
sense  and  practical  view  of  this  question),  to  prohibit  the  use  of 
boracic  acid,  provided  it  does  not  appear  in  excess  of  one-half  of 
I  per  cent. — the  amount  [stated  by  Dr.  Vaughan  this  morning  as 
being  harmless." 
The  position  of  Mr.  Gardner  is  wholly  logical  if  it  be  conceded 
that  preservatives  are  necessary. 
I  also  think  it  is  easy  to  show  that  when  experts  testify  that  a 
given  preservative  is  harmless  they  do  so  with  a  certain  mental 
reservation.  For  instance,  if  a  preservative  is  harmless,  why  should 
it  not  be  put  into  all  foods  indiscriminately  ?  What  is  the  meaning 
of  the  word,  "  harmful  "  or  "  harmless  "?  I  do  not  think  that  any 
one  would  say  of  a  preservative  that  it  would  be  harmful  to  every 
person  who  consumed  it,  but  if  it  hurts  one  person,  if  it  is  injurious 
to  a  single  individual,  it  becomes  a  harmful  substance.  If  a  man  is 
indicted  for  larceny  it  is  not  sufficient  to  prove  by  a  thousand  people 
that  he  never  stole  anything  from  them.  That  has  nothing  to  do 
with  the  case.  But  if  it  is  proved  in  a  single  instance  that  he  has 
stolen  he  becomes  guilty.  And  so  with  the  experts  who  testified 
before  the  Interstate  and  Foreign  Commerce  Committee — they  nega- 
tive their  own  arguments  and  statements  by  certain  admissions 
respecting  the  harmfulness  of  the  very  bodies  which  they  declare 
to  be  harmless.  Dr.  Vaughan  particularly  contradicted  his  own 
statements  respecting  the  harmlessness  of  certain  preservatives. 
I  said  to  the  Committee,  in  reviewing  Dr.  Vaughan's  testimony  : 
"  I  believe  it  is  recognized  by  everyone  who  has  familiarized  him- 
self with  the  facts,  that  of  all  common  food  products  milk  is  the 
most  prone  to  decay.  Doctor  Vaughan  himself  has  shown  that  by 
result  of  bacterial  action  in  milk  a  poisonous  substance,  which  he 
has  called  '  tyrotoxicon  '  is  developed,  which  is  very  deadly  in  its 
effects. 
During  the  summer  months  especially  the  newspapers  are  full  of 
many  cases  of  illness  and  death  due  to  the  consumption  of  ice  crearn. 
"  The  rapidity  with  which  bacteria  multiply  in  fresh  milk  is  some- 
thing phenomenal.  Therefore  it  seems  reasonable  to  believe  that 
if  there  could  be  any  justification  of  the  use  of  preservatives  in 
food  products  it  would  be  in  milk.    Doctor  Vaughan's  insistence  on 
