The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-11-16
ANTlsEPTlcs IN tooD.
Their Too FREQ Usc Ir,iur,~ Z. I.nrcHr r.:
hibit OF Poisons Than A.; \yisr.

Their Too FREQ Usc Ir,!i.r,~ Z. I.nrcHr 4:r-
hibit of Poson- Than IL Wise.
Tho recent prosecution for selling
orange Wine containing ~ littlo over
three grains to the pint Of salcylio
acid suggests tho proprioty Of dis
cussing shortly tho general question .
of preserving foods by antiscptics.
Wines aro sulphurod and doctored /
with snlicylio acid, iluuboratcs and /
tluosilicntes. To milk III hot weather !
tho chiof being boracio acid. varied
of lato by tho addition of fOrn,alin
Boracio acid or bornX is also tho fa-
vorito antiseptio for buffers. 1t
may, indeed, be stated gcnorally
that AL deoomposablo articles not
stcrilizcd by boiling or preserved
from change by GOLD arc liablo to
bo treated with small quantities of
antSrptios. There may not bo i'll
any ono article percentage su1fi-
cicnt to cause, when givon III sin
glo doso, appreciablo effect, but II
person taking boraXcd milk and but
Ter Tor breakfast and tea and sal
lcyiatrl Wine for tlinnrr will DO
CONSUMING. day by day IL sufficient
amount OF activu drugs 10 produce
some 'iicrt on his Ii ,lith
Sailryiic acii IS Il pr.Syn. III 1873
Il case happened i'll wh:ch 50 small
Il dose -; three grams CAS- gr,ins,)
caused duill III 81 hnur. Possibly
tllcac.d WAS impure. II. ll,ru rlicr
casrS iii which dV,i,!rd :.nl danger
Gus symptoms wcrr produced the
duso W;lS much larger. hplny H., -
and % grams respectively. Sail
cylicanu bcllZnic ,,l.i, are thcrnpru-
tically attcnu;.tcsi i,lonuis. i'hcnoi
being most poisonous, then comes
snlcylic acid, and lastly bonzoin
acid What tho effect Of >,nall doses
of salicyliu acid, .,ay 5 grains daily,
may bn il at prcsont matter
of conjecture. We know that most of
it is cXcretod by tho kidneys unitod
with glycocoll, and also that it is u
substance which readily enters into
I combination, forming q variety OF
aldehydos and esters, the physiolog-
icul effects of which arc not pre-
ciSoly tho snmo as the free acid. 1t
is conceivable that small quantities
of salicylio acid, whom they come in
contact with tho intestinal and gas
trio juices. arc in this way changed.
1t is also possible that long bottling
of vino with sulicylic acid will
change tho acid into salicylio cstor
or salicylic aldohytlc. Schmitt, for
instance, has found that, although
Rhino wines nro Sulpllured. tho old
Rhine wines contain no FREQ sulphur
Gus acid. tho greater portion huv-
ing combined with aldohydo, form
ing aldchyde sulphurous acid.
Bu this as it may. tho growing uso
of antiseptics constitutes IL possible
danger to health. Persons with
! sound cXcrctory organs have for
years daily taken chemicals of tho
kind in their food without injury,
yet it can he confidently predicted
that othor persons with damaged or
weak kidneys will be affected by
! minute doses. 1t must also be re-
membored that digestion in the in
testinos is carried on to o great OK
! tent by what. outside the intostines,
! would bo recognized as fermonta-
two OF putrefactive process. In
short, just as tho nourishment of Il
number of plants depends on tho
microbes around their rootlotS, SD
tho assimilation OF our own nOuriSh-
mcnt depends to y largo degree OH
tho activity Of hosts Of colonies OF
microbes i'll the intestinal canal. All
antiscptics, even i'll minute quanti-
ty. will inhibit tho activity Of these
colonies or affect unruually various
species, tho not result III ordinary
individuals being an impairment of
digestion or an actual dyspepsia. -
British Medical Journal