170 INFLUENCE OF GASTRIC JUICE ON ORGANISMS. [BOOK II. 



It is through failure to arrest the developement of the organisms 

 which are the cause of acetic, lactic, butyric and similar fermentations 

 that the feebly acid gastric juice secreted in morbid conditions of the 

 organism and of the stomach reacts injuriously upon its functions, 

 bringing about catarrh al conditions which are associated with various 

 dyspeptic manifestations. Amongst these manifestations are promi- 

 nently observed such as are due to the action of the organic acids 

 which are the products of abnormal fermentations. 



Ewald pointed out that the hydrochloric acid of 

 Action of i r i , p i i 



acid of gastric normal gastric juice possessed the property of checking 



juice in check- the production of lactic and acetic acids 1 . His state- 

 ing fermenta- ments have received confirmation from the researches 

 tlon - of Hirschfeld 2 and of Felix O. Conn. 



The former writer added artificial gastric juice, containing varying 

 quantities of hydrochloric acid, to culture solutions which had been 

 inoculated with Bacill. acid. lact. (Hueppe) or with sour milk, and 

 determined by titration the quantity of lactic acid formed. He 

 found that from O'Ol to 0*02 per cent, of HC1 sufficed to slow, very 

 powerfully, the developement of lactic acid ; the same effect was 

 observed in the case of the acetic fermentation. 



Felix 0. Cohn 3 , from a series of experiments similar to those of 

 Hirschfeld, arrived at the following conclusions : 1st. That pepsin 

 does not inhibit the formation of acetic and lactic acids. 2nd. That 

 even mere traces of hydrochloric acid hinder the acetic fermentation. 

 3rd. That whilst hydrochloric acid hinders the developement of the 

 lactic fermentation, as much as 0'7 per cent, is required in order to 

 arrest it. 



A considerable number of bacteriological investigations have 

 been made on the micro-organisms which occur in the healthy 

 human stomach, but the results have been by no means concordant. 

 Capitan and Moreau 4 found only three micro-organisms in their 

 examinations of the stomach contents of thirty healthy human beings ; 

 two of these organisms were varieties of yeast and one a bacillus, 

 somewhat broader than the tubercle bacillus, forming colonies and 

 liquefying gelatine. Abelous 5 , on the other hand, succeeded in 

 discovering 16 micro-organisms, of which 7 are known, to wit, 

 Sarcina ventriculi 6 , Bacillus pyocyaneus, Bacterium lactis aerogenes 



1 Ewald, Berliner Klin. Wochenschrift 1886, No. 48. 



2 E. Hirschfeld, 'Ueber die Einwirkung des kiinstlichen Magensaftes auf Essigsaure- 

 und Milchsauregahrung.' Pfiii-ger's Archiv, Vol. XLVII. 510 542. 



3 Eelix O. Cohn, ' Ueber die Einwirkung des kiinstlichen Magensaftes auf Essig- 

 saure- und Milchsauregahrung.' Zeitschrift f. physiolog. Chemie, Vol. xiv. 74 105. 



4 Capitan et Moreau. Comptes Rendus de la Societe de Biologic, 41. 25. 



5 Abelous. Comptes Rendus de la Societe de Biologie, 41. 86. 



6 Sarcina ventriculi received the name which it now bears from John Goodsir, who 

 first discovered it in the vomited matters of certain cases of dyspepsia (Edinburgh 

 Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. LVII. (1842) p. 430). Sarcina is an alga, and after 

 its discovery by Goodsir was recognised as identical with the alga discovered by Von 

 Meyen in 1829 and named by him Merismopedia punctata (see Article ' Verdauung ' in 

 Wagner's Handivorterbiich). 



