Until such information is forthcoming we do well to err on the side of caution. The desirability of adopting this attitude is especially borne in upon us by the facts already instanced (pp. 2-4) concerning the increased death-rates in the higher-age groups in this country. For aught we now know to the contrary, the relatively high death-rates from degenerative changes in the kidneys, blood vessels, and other organs may be in part caused by the use of irritating chemical substances in food. Although no one chemical by itself and in the quantities in which it is commonly present in food can perhaps be reasonably accused of producing serious and permanent injury, yet when to its effect is superadded the effect of still other poisonous ingredients in spiced, smoked, and preserved foods of all kinds the total burden laid upon the excretory and other organs may be distinctly too great. There can be no escape from the conclusion that the more extensive and widespread the use of preservatives in food the greater the likelihood of injurious consequences to the public health. The use of spoiled or decomposed food falls under the same head. It cannot be assumed that the irritating substances produced in food by certain kinds of decomposition can be continually consumed with impunity. We do not even know whether these decomposition products may not be more fundamentally injurious than preservatives that might be added to prevent decomposition! So far as our present knowledge indicates, therefore, effort should be directed (1) to the purveying of food as far as possible in a fresh condition; (2) to the avoidance of chemical preservatives of all kinds except those unequivocally demonstrated to be harmless. The methods of preserving food by drying, by refrigeration, and by heating and sealing are justified by experience as well as on theoretical grounds, and the same statement can be made regarding the use of salt and sugar solutions. But the use of sulphites in sausage and chopped meat, the addition of formaldehyde to milk, and of boric acid or sodium fluoride to butter are practices altogether objectionable from the standpoint of public health.