One should guard against overripe cheese, though cheese of any kind acts as a poison with some people. Cases of severe intestinal disturbance may occur in those who are unable to eat certain articles of food, as strawberries, lobsters, or oysters; these attacks should be carefully distinguished from cases of true poisoning. Sometimes, however, particularly in the case of fish or oysters which have been frozen, unless they are eaten immediately after they have been thawed, toxins develop which cause severe constitutional disturbance, particularly of the nervous system. These toxins do not seem to affect the gastro-intestinal tract so markedly. Infected shellfish, particularly mussels, have caused death in two hours by their effect on the nervous system. Many fish after being smoked are eaten raw, and if the ptomains have begun to develop, poisoning follows. Care must be taken in purchasing fish for the table that the flesh is firm and the odor absolutely without taint. Meat or fish may become toxic to the system through substances eaten by the animal or by its own physical condition at the time it is killed. Fish and oysters, therefore, are not eaten during the spawning season. Cow’s milk may be made obnoxious by substances on which the cow feeds. Wild garlic when eaten by the cow imparts a nauseous taste to the milk. The flesh from diseased animals slaughtered and sold for food has occasioned violent sickness. Government inspection, however, has greatly lessened the dangers from this source. Unripe or overripe vegetables and fruit may occasion severe vomiting and diarrhea. Moldy flour contains a substance which may cause poisoning. Rye may have a parasite fungus called ergot and if flour is made from rye contaminated with this growth, a form of poisoning called “ergotism” may result. It takes some time and a prolonged use of the flour to cause untoward symptoms. Pellagra, which has been giving the southern states so much trouble, was thought to be caused by the use of spoiled corn meal. It is now thought to be due to the disturbed nutrition following too monotonous and unbalanced a diet. The excessive use of corn-meal breads with their heating qualities and the irritation of the intestinal canal may be an accessory factor. A food which is so universally used as milk should be surrounded with every safeguard possible by rigid inspection from producer to consumer, as many infective epidemics have been traced directly to a careless or infected handler of this product. Tuberculosis and typhoid fever germs, diphtheria and scarlet fever may all be communicated by this means. Live typhoid bacilli have been found in acid buttermilk. Infected water used in washing the cans will infect the milk.