30 Studies on Water Drinking [Oct. 



and Winkler (7), on the contrary, cite several cases in which pro- 

 longed, distilled-water ingestion was unaccompanied by any harm- 

 ful influences. Harlow (8) considers that the ingestion of water 

 from glaciers leads to irritation of the mucosa of the gastrointestinal 

 tract. Spitta (9) has recently expressed the opinion that the ques- 

 tion whether distilled-water ingestion is harmfnl mtist be considered 

 an open one. Very recently Oehler (10) has ptiblished data from a 

 Short series of tests upon white mice from which he draws the 

 conclusion that distilled-water ingestion by these animals causes 

 hemoglobinuria. The introdtiction of distilled water into the cir- 

 cidation will, of course, be followed by a transient hemoglobinuria. 

 It is a little difficult to see, however, how the introduction of the 

 fluid mto the stomach can bring about such a condition. We expect 

 to investigate the question shortly. 



Incomplete digestion and absorption of the protein part of the 

 food causes an increased elimination of nitrogen in the feces, or 

 may result in an increased grow^th of bacteria in the lower intestine. 

 Hence any experiment to show the course of bacterial development 

 may have a direct bearing on the problems of digestion and absorp- 

 tion. It may be argued in a general w^ay, for example, that an 

 increase of bacteria shows a decreased digestive or absorptive effi- 

 ciency, and a decreased bacterial content of the feces indicates a 

 more efficient functioning of the organs of digestion and absorption. 



Description of the experiments. Methods. Fresh samples 

 of feces w^ere used for all analyses. Duplicate analyses were made 

 in all cases, approximately 2 gm. of fecal matter being used in each 

 determination. Total nitrogen was determined by the Kjeldahl 

 method. The method used for bacterial nitrogen was in general the 

 modification of MacNeal's method described by Mattill and Hawk 

 (11). It differed in some of the details from the directions given 

 by these workers. Two grams of fresh feces were weighed by 

 difference into a 50 c.c. centrifuge-tube, rubbed up with 0.2 percent 

 hydrochloric acid sol., and the bacterial matter brought into Sus- 

 pension in the usual manner. When the first serial centrifugation 

 was completed, about one-half the Suspension was transferred to a 

 100 c.c. centrifuge-tube. The experiment was then continued, using 

 the larger tubes throughout the remainder of the experiment. The 



