Although most attacks of food poisoning are usually of a slight
and apparently temporary nature, it does not follow that they
are to be considered negligible or of trivial importance from
the standpoint of public health. The human organism is always
more or less weakened by such attacks, many of them, as we shall
see, genuine infections; and, as is known to be the case with
many infectious diseases, some permanent injurious impression
may be left on the body of the affected individual. days, the
animal will die in a few minutes with symptoms of violent
poisoning. Whatever be the physiological explanation of the
remarkable change that thus results from the incorporation of
foreign protein into the body, there can be no doubt that the
phenomenon known as protein sensitization or anaphylaxis is
relatively common. Sensitization to proteins came to light in
the first instance through the study of therapeutic sera, and
has been found to have unexpectedly wide bearings. It is now
known that not only the rash and oth