278  Use  of  Copper  in  Destroying  Typhoid.  {Amj?nue^iSgarm' 
THE  EFFECTS  OF  FOODS  CONTAINING  COPPER  ON  MAN. 
Being  without  any  other  reliable  data  as  to  the  physiological  effects 
of  copper  on  man,  save  as  a  medicine,  we  naturally  turn  to  the  foods 
containing  copper  for  evidence  as  to  the  effects  of  copper  on  man. 
The  question  has  been  repeatedly  discussed  before  the  courts,  par. 
ticularly  in  England,  and  the  studies  of  Lehmann  and  others  in  Ger- 
many have  contributed  materially  to  an  elucidation  of  the  problem. 
It  is  probable  that  the  copper  naturally  occurring  in  plants  is  in  a 
condition  different  from  that  found  in  food  products  which  have  been 
artificially  treated  with  copper.  That  is,  in  the  former  case  the 
copper  is  in  a  labile  condition  and  therefore  more  assimilable,  while 
in  the  latter  case  the  compounds  formed  by  the  combination  of  the 
copper  with  the  proteids  and  chlorophyl  are  less  soluble  and  the 
copper  is  extracted  only  in  part  by  acids  of  the  strength  of  the  gas- 
tric juice.  According  to  Tschirch  and  Brandel1  the  copper  in  these 
more  or  less  insoluble  compounds  is  but  slightly  toxic.  "  From 
experiments  with  copper  proteid  Filehne  concluded  that  an  amount 
equivalent  to  0-500  gramme  of  copper  per  day  would  produce  no 
notable  result  in  an  adult."  2 
"  Contrary  to  the  earlier  teachings,  recent  observations  tend  to  the 
view  that  there  is  no  chronic  copper  poisoning  comparable  with  that 
of  lead.  According  to  this  view  the  long-continued  ingestion  of 
minute  doses  of  copper  by  the  stomach  and  the  exposure  to  absorp- 
tion in  handling  and  working  the  metal,  are  not  capable  of  producing 
systemic  poisoning.  This  view  is  based  largely  upon  the  negative 
results  obtained  in  feeding-experiments  with  man  and  the  lower 
animals,  and  in  the  therapeutic  use  of  copper  salts."2 
Galippe  had  all  of  the  foods  which  were  used  in  his  family  for 
fourteen  months  cooked  in  copper  vessels,  and  reported  that  no 
trouble  was  experienced.  Dr.  Smith,2  in  discussing  the  use  of  copper 
utensils  for  cooking  purposes,  says :  "  It  seems  impossible  that 
enough  copper  could  be  present  in  food  which  would  be  eaten  at 
one  time  to  produce  serious  acute  poisoning  as  has  been  frequently 
supposed,  especially  as  the  presence  of  as  much  as  y2  a  gramme  of 
copper  in  1  kilogramme  of  liquid  food  would  produce  a  marked 
metallic  taste." 
1  Quoted  by  Dr.  Smith  in  Buck's  "  Handbook  of  Medical  Sciences." 
2  Buck's  "Handbook  of  Medical  Sciences." 
