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Month after month we bring forward additional evidence of the injury resulting from the use of chemical “preservatives” in food, while the Authorities feebly hesitate to give specific legal effect to the recommendations of the Departmental Committee which made such a complete inquiry into this question. The evidence upon which those recommendations were based has been fully corroborated by a number of different observers. FERE and others have shown that, as regards boric acid and borax, even when administered in the smallest medicinal doses, there is always the risk that these drugs may aggravate, or even produce, renal diseases. These observations have been confirmed by the work of Dr. CHARLES HARRINGTON, an account of which has been recently published. Twelve cats were fed on the same food; six were treated with borax, one had no preservative, and five were given a preservative which had no apparent effect. The experiment extended over a period of 133 days, the quantity of borax given averaging about 0.5 grms, per diem. Three of the borated cats soon became ill, and one died at the end of six weeks. On the termination of the experiment the cats were all killed, and upon examination it was found that the organs of the six cats which had not taken borax were in perfectly sound and healthy condition, while the others, with one exception, were all suffering from nephritis. Of course, instances are recorded in which patients have been treated with borax and boracic acid with apparently no injurious result, but as a general rule these experiments have been of too short duration to allow of the desired information being arrived at, and the results must therefore be regarded as inconclusive and unreliable. It is perfectly evident that the kidneys may be for a short time quite capable of eliminating many objectionable substances, but the long‐continued use of such bodies, as Dr. HARRINGTON'S researches clearly indicate, sets up an inflammatory condition of the kidneys which, of course, interferes with the effective performance of their proper functions, and lays the foundations for complications of the most serious nature.

Seasoned equity offerings (SEOs) are sales of stock after the initial public offering. They are a means to raise funds through the sale of stock rather than the issuance of additional debt. We propose a method to predict the characteristics of firms that undertake this form of financing. Our procedure is based on logistic regression where firm-specific variables are obtained from the perspective of the firm's need to raise cash such as high debt ratios, high current liabilities, reduction and changes in current debt, significant increase in capital expenditure, and cash flows in terms of cash as a percentage of assets.

We propose a novel method of forecasting equity option spreads using the degree of multiple listing as a proxy for expectations of future spreads. Spreads are a transactions fee for traders. To determine the future spreads on options being considered for purchase, traders must take current market trends affecting spreads into account. One such trend is the continued decline in spreads due to the multiple listing of options. Options listed on 4–6 exchanges compete more intensely than those listed on fewer exchanges, so that they may be expected to experience greater future declines in spreads. This study identifies the listing dates and number of listed exchanges for options listed on up to six exchanges as of May 2005. Listing criteria for multiple listing are defined with short- and long-term volumes, market capitalization, net income, and total assets being significant determinants of multiple listing. Short- and long-term volumes were found to have no explanatory power for multiple listing. Ranges of listing criteria are specified so that traders may locate the options of their choice.

We propose a method for forecasting bank solvency that quantifies bank solvency as the probability that a bank will have more than 0.25 of the cash to total asset ratio. Predictor variables include the ratio of loans secured by farmland to total loans, the ratio of loans to farmers to total loans, and the ratio of commercial and industrial loans to total loans. Loans secured by farmland to total loans significantly predicted the potential for insolvency. To a secondary extent, commercial and industrial loans significantly predicted bank failure. This result was validated with predicted probabilities significantly explaining cash to total assets.

We propose a novel method of forecasting the level of informed trading at merger announcements. Informed traders typically take advantage of their knowledge of the forthcoming merger by trading heavily at announcement. They trade on positive volume or informed buys for cash mergers and negative volume or informed sells for stock mergers. In response, market makers set wider spreads and raise prices for informed buys and lower prices for informed sells. As liquidity traders trade on these prices, our vector autoregressive framework establishes the link between informed trading and liquidity trading through price changes. As long as the link holds, informed trading may be detected by measuring levels of liquidity trading. We observe the link during the −1 to +1 period for cash mergers and −1 to +5 period for stock mergers.

This paper aims to propose a method of forecasting the level of informed trading at merger announcements by permitting liquidity traders to adjust their trading based upon signals from informed traders. Informed traders typically take advantage of their knowledge of forthcoming mergers by trading heavily at announcement. For cash mergers, they respond to a positive signal by purchasing stock, and for stock mergers, they respond to a negative signal by selling stock. In response, exchanges (market makers) set wider spreads (charge higher transaction fees) for informed buyers. Uninformed traders are subject to such excessive fees unless they can accurately predict the period during which such fees are charged.

This paper proposes a technique by which uninformed traders may make predictions by creating a vector autoregressive framework that links informed and liquidity trading through price changes.

For cash mergers, transaction fees remained excessive for days −1 to +1. For stock mergers, fees remained high on days −1 to +1, started declining on days 2 and 3, and vanished on days 4 and 5.

Most theoretical models of informed trading have viewed informed trading and liquidity trading as tangentially linked. This study finds a direct link between these two trading activities.

Uninformed traders may wish to limit their trading until after day +1 for both types of mergers.

This paper defines the time period during which transactions costs for traders are at the maximum level. Short sellers have more information about the direction of stock movements and may sell during days of informed selling set forth by this study and repurchase stock afterwards.

The purpose of the study was to provide empirical support for the Miller model. The paper proposes the use of the ratio of individual to institutional holdings as a proxy for heterogeneous expectations of security returns.

Both bivariate t‐tests and regression analysis were used to test whether optimistic valuations existed for stocks with high levels of institutional ownership. Data on open short positions were collected and hypothesized to decrease with the level of institutional holdings. High ratio stocks were compared to glamor stocks and low ratio stocks to value stocks.

For stocks with higher institutional ownership, optimistic valuations dominated resulting in significantly lower future security returns than for stocks with higher individual ownership thereby supporting the Miller model. The results were not sensitive to variations in size, momentum, and book‐to‐market ratios. Further support for the Miller model was provided by the finding that open short positions decreased with the level of institutional holdings. High ratio stocks resembled glamor stocks and low ratio stocks corresponded to value stocks.

This study is limited to the ultra‐short term period of one month after portfolio creation. Future research should extend it to the three‐to‐five year time horizon.

Ultra‐short term investors should hold value stocks, intermediate three‐12 month investors should hold glamor stocks, and long‐term investors should hold value stocks.

The finding of a new proxy for heterogeneous expectations. The paper also establishes a new methodology for testing the Miller model.

IN the last article it was pointed out that any form of starch as a substitute for milk sugar, the natural carbohydrate of human milk, was highly undesirable in an infant's food unless such food was to be administered under the supervision and control of a medical man. The same remark would also apply more or less to invalids' foods, and especially to brands containing raw, or only very slightly altered starch. Having regard to the object for which such preparations are intended ease of digestion is of the utmost importance, and it cannot bo contended that any starches in their natural condition can lay claim to this property. It is, however, possible so to prepare them that a very largo proportion of their weight is soluble in cold water, and where so prepared the objection is very largely removed.