186 Journal of the Mitchell Society [Fehruary 



collected with the normal content of lecithin and fats in the 

 yolks. Was that due to bacterial flora or can the hen synthesize 

 lecithin? Another interesting aspect of the widely recognized 

 importance of the bacterial flora has been the nmshroom-like 

 growth of the ideas of Metchinkoff and Massol upon the lactic 

 acid bacillus and cultures. 



The fundamental principles of fighting one bacterium 

 with another harmless culture and the resulting cleans- 

 ing of the intestinal tract of putrefactive, poisonous, 

 substances is to you a familiar problem. Quoting Her- 

 ter again: ''The work of Baumann and others has taught us 

 that although the putrefactive decomposition of the protein in 

 the intestine is a consequence of micro-organisms which regular- 

 ly inhabit the gut, this decomposition often exceeds the limits 

 of health." 



In dealing with these putrefactive conditions we have 

 various methods at our disposal. Besides the cleansing of 

 the intestinal tract with acid-producing cultures, we have the 

 wide variety of medicinal laxatives and antiseptic drugs. There 

 is one other more recent method to which I would call your 

 attention. In cases of intestinal activity caused by a too high 

 purity of food intake, possibly with too little indigestible fibrous 

 material, or from sluggish peristalsis, or any other cause, the 

 result is the condition of common constipation which means a 

 chapter of typical toxic conditions, most of which can be readily 

 produced experimentally by doses per os of the products of pro- 

 tein putrefaction, that is, indol, skatol, putrescine, phenol, 

 kresol, etc. It has become a rather recent practice to feed to 

 such individuals the polysaccharide, hemicellulose, agar agar, 

 to produce filling of the gut, or what is called in feeding ex- 

 periments, "roughage." This is supposed to act by hydrating 

 to an enormous degree and bringing about a stimulation of 

 peristaltic movements. 



I have been particularly interested in these proper- 

 ties of agar agar because a great deal of the original 

 and best work on the indigestibility of this and other related 

 marine forms has been done at the Yale Physicological Labo- 



