1896.] 3IICR0SC0PICAL JOUKjVAL. 105 



The bowels were evacuated six times during the day, the total 

 weight of the fecal matter passed being 1.5 kilograms (3.3 

 pounds). The number of microbes contained in each milligram 

 of fecal matter was found to be 272,253, and the total number 

 evacuated during the day was 411,000,000,000. The number of 

 microbes normally contained in the fecal matter of the person 

 examined was found to be 67,000 per milligram, and the num- 

 ber eliminated in twenty-four hours, 12,000,000,000. The pur- 

 gation, therefore, resulted in the discharge of thirty-four times 

 the usual number of germs. The day following, the microbes 

 found in the fecal matter was about double the ordinary num- 

 ber; and on the second day the fecal matter was normal in 

 quantity, while the number of germs was only 1350 per milli- 

 gram, or 580,500,000 in all, — less than one twentieth the normal 

 amount, and one seven-hundredth the amount discharged on 

 the day of purgation. 



A continuous milk diet was shown to have a decided action in 

 reducing the number of microbes in the feces. This effect, how- 

 ever, was not manifested until the end of the fifth da.y after be- 

 ginning an exclusive milk diet. The action of purgatives in 

 disinfecting the alimentary canal was jDrompt, but ephemeral. 

 The only way in which intestinal asepsis can be maintained is 

 by an aseptic dietary. The writer has found granose, zwieback, 

 and other thoroughly sterilized farinaceous foods extremely 

 valuable for this purpose, as they establish complete asepsis of 

 the stomach. 



The subject of intestinal asepsis in one generally recognized 

 as of great importance. In the opinion of the wjiter it is one 

 of the most important questions in the domain of rational medi- 

 cine. The observations of Bouchard, Dana, and various other 

 investigators have clearly shown that ptomaines absorbed from 

 the alimentary canal are probably the chief cause of degenera- 

 tions of the liver, kidne3's, the central nervous system, and 

 other portions of the body which have so long baffled medical 

 skill. The renowned Dujardin-Beaumetz, during the last few 

 years of his life, constantly called the attention of the profes- 

 sion to the importance of an aseptic or antiseptic dietarv in the 

 treatment of a large variety of chronic disorders, especially 

 Bright's disease, diabetes, and other maladies involving the 

 eliminative organs. Glenard has likewise emphasized the ne- 



