672 BACTERIA OF THE STOMACH AND INTESTINE. 



The constant presence of certain species of bacteria in the intes- 

 tine of man and the lower animals has led to the supposition that 

 they may serve a useful purpose, or perhaps even have an essential 

 physiological role in connection with intestinal digestion. While 

 this question has not been definitely settled, the experiments of 

 Vallin, Abelous, and others have thrown some light upon it, and a 

 recent experiment by Nuttall and Thierf elder (1895) has considerable 

 importance as bearing upon its solution. The experiment consisted 

 in removing a foetus from a pregnant guinea-pig by Cassarean sec- 

 tion, placing it under conditions which protected it from the micro- 

 organisms present in the atmosphere, and feeding it upon sterilized 

 milk. Great technical skill was shown in carrying out this experi- 

 ment for a period of eight days, during which time the little animal 

 was kept in a sterilized atmosphere and was fed every hour day and 

 night. At the end of this time it had consumed over three hundred 

 and thirty cubic centimetres of sterilized milk, and was as active and 

 healthy as other guinea-pigs of the same age. It was now killed, and 

 a careful bacteriological examination showed that the discharges 

 from the bowels and the contents of the intestine were entirely sterile. 



ADDITIONAL NOTES UPON BACTERIA OF THE STOMACH AND 



INTESTINE. 



Oppler (1894) has examined material, obtained in the early morning-, from 

 the stomach of persons suffering from indigestion, and found nearly always 

 numerous masses of sarcinae. Five different species were obtained from this 

 source, which were distinguished by the following characters : No. 1, colo- 

 nies sulphur yellow ; No. 2, colonies greenish yellow ; No. 3, colonies white ; 

 No. 4, colonies white, does not liquefy gelatin ; No. 5, colonies orange yel- 

 low. Nos. 1 and 3 were most frequently encountered. 



Kauff mami (1895) in a carefully studied case of chronic dyspepsia obtained 

 from the contents of the stomach in the morning before breakfast, and after 

 a test meal, the following bacteria : Yellow sarcina, Micrococcusaurantiacus, 

 Staphylococcus cereus albus. Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus ramosus, " a large 

 thick oacillus," u a short bacillus resembling Bacillus coli comnmnis." The 

 last-mentioned bacillus was found in large numbers, and Kauffmann suggots 

 that it may have been the cause of the fermentation in the digestive tract 

 which caused the unpleasant symptoms in the case under investigation. 



Macfayden (1887) and Gillespie (1893) have also obtained a bacillus from 

 the stomach which appears to be identical with Bacillus coli communis. In 

 the researches of Gillespie it was obtained from a patient with dilatation of 

 the stomach who suffered from flatulence, etc. In all, twenty-four different 

 microorganisms were obtained by Gillespie from the contents of the stomach 

 of different individuals. This number includes three species of saccha- 

 romyces and a mucor. Among the conclusions reached by Gillespie are the 

 following : 



"14. Although bacteria are of no aid to peptic digestion, and a hindrance 

 to the pancreatic ferment if in quantity in the duodenum, they still are of 

 great use in the small intestine, wnere they control putrefaction. This seems 

 paradoxical : microorganisms obstructing microorganisms but assisting diges- 

 tion. It seems, however, to be true. The organisms which most easily 

 pass tne searching examination of the stomach are those which give rise by 



