_Prevention and treatment._--The food in which _B. botulinus_ has grown does not seem to be altered in a way that necessarily arouses suspicion. In the case described by Römer the incriminated ham showed bluish-gray areas from which _B. botulinus_ could be isolated, but this condition does not seem to have attracted attention before the poisoning occurred and was an observation made only after the event. So far as can be learned the meat that has caused botulism has always come from perfectly sound animals. In some cases the accused article of food is said to have had a rancid or acrid taste (due to butyric acid?), but there is nothing definitely characteristic about this, as the majority of anaërobes produce butyric acid. If, as in the Darmstadt[110] and Stanford University[111] epidemics, the food (canned beans) is served with salad dressing, a sour taste might pass without notice or even add to the relish. In the instance reported by Sheppard the canned beans were good in appearance, taste, and smell. The obvious precaution to take against poisoning of this sort is first the use of adequate methods of food preservation. To judge from the recorded outbreaks, domestically prepared vegetables and meats are more likely to give rise to botulism than those prepared commercially on a large scale. The general use of steam under pressure in the large canning factories affords a high degree of protection against the anaërobic bacteria and their resistant spores. Whatever the method of treatment, all canned or preserved food having an unnatural appearance, taste, or odor should be rejected. Reheating of all prepared foods immediately before use is an additional safeguard. Foods, such as salads, composed wholly or in part of uncooked materials should not be allowed to stand overnight before being served. If symptoms of botulism, such as visual disturbances, become manifest, the stomach should be emptied with a stomach pump, cathartics administered, and strychnine and other stimulants given as required. Since one of the noteworthy features of this disease is the paralysis of the intestinal tract by the toxin absorbed, the guilty food may lie for a long time in the stomach (cf. Stiles, _loc. cit._). Consequently, measures to empty the stomach should be taken even if the patient does not come under observation until several days after the poisonous food has been eaten. An antitoxic serum has been prepared at the Koch Institute in Berlin. This serum has given successful results in animal experimentation, but has not been used, so far as I can learn, in any human outbreak. It is not available at any point in this country. OTHER BACTERIAL POISONS