BOTULISM FROM CANNED ASPARAGUS

Sickness and even death from the ingestion of spoiled food are repeatedly mentioned in the literature. Much of the information offered however is vague. The identification of the actual type of decomposition responsible for these cases has been usually incomplete. Such reports leave hope neither for relief from the suffering of the individual nor of proper safeguards against further poisoning. Recently the work of Dickson¹ followed closely by the report of Nevin² led to the identification of Bacillus botulinus as one cause of poisoning cases occurring in America. Botulism has been regarded as rare, apparently because the cases that occurred went unrecognized. The discussion in the literature, although presumably adequate, failed to identify the poisoning cases which actually occurred. A considerable series of such cases in man and domestic animals have been described by Dickson,¹ Dickson and Burke,³ Burke,⁴ Buckley and Shippen,⁵ Shippen,⁶