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to The Journal of Infectious Diseases
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SODIUM SULPHITE: A DANGEROUS FOOD-
PRESERVATIVE.*
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356 Charles Harrington
Finding, in addition, that three men, who, for three days, ate meat
containing 0.10 per cent, of sulphite, were not made sick, they
assailed Kionka's work, and, with others, contended that sulphites
should be regarded as harmless in all respects. This led Kionka4
to repeat his experiments with a larger number (six) of dogs,
which he fed nine weeks with meat containing 0.20 per cent.,
which is the proportion commonly recommended. During the
whole period, none of the animals showed any outward sign of
poisoning; and, in fact, all gained in weight up to the day they
were killed, when post-mortem examination showed in each subject
evidence of marked degenerative changes in various organs.
Numerous small hemorrhages were observed in the lungs, endo-
cardium, stomach, intestines, and liver, and all showed acute
nephritis. Practically the same results were obtained, also in
dogs, by Schulz.5 Kionka repeated Lebbin's experiments with
rabbits, and found that they died very quickly.
A number of writers have reported discomfort, eructations,
headache, and other effects attributed to treated meats, and others
have recorded negative results from similar experience, but, for
obvious reasons, such evidence is hardly worthy of discussion.
Before I happened to see Kionka's second paper and Schulz's
communication, I began an experiment with cats, giving them a
daily feed of freshly hashed beef, to which was added 0.20 per cent,
of pure crystallized sodium sulphite. While it was in progress I,
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Sodium Sulphite: A Dangerous Food Preservative 357
REFERENCES.
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