1046 



BACTERIA IN AIR, SOIL, WATER, AND MILK 



\ 



previously use'd. In searching for more powerful acid producers, 

 his attention was attracted to Bacillus bulgaricus, isolated from 

 milk by Massol 62 and Cohendy 63 in 1905. This bacillus, according 

 to the researches of Bertrand and Weisweiller, 6 * produces as much 

 as 25 grams of lactic acid per liter of milk. In addition to this, 



it manufactures, from the same 

 quantity of milk, about 50 cen- 

 tigrams of acetic and succinic 

 acids and exerts no putre- 

 factive action upon proteins. 

 Added to these characters, it 

 is especially adapted to thera- 

 peutic application by its com- 

 plete lack of pathogenicity. 



The administration of the 

 bacillus to patients suffering 

 from intestinal putrefaction, 

 first suggested by Metchnikoff 

 in 1906, has, since that time, 

 been extensively practiced and 

 often with remarkable success. 

 In spite of sharp criticism, 

 especially by Luersen and 

 Kiihn, 65 who deny much of 

 the antiputrefactive activity 

 of the bacillus, the treatment 

 of Metchnikoff has found 

 many adherents, upon the 

 basis of purely clinical experi- 

 ment. It is not possible to review completely the already extensive 

 literature. Among the more valuable contributions may be mentioned 

 the articles by Grekoff, 66 by Wegele, 67 and by Klotz. 68 In Metchni- 

 koff 's experiments and in the work of his immediate successors, the 



FIG. 119. BACILLUS BULGARICUS. 



Massol, Eevue medicale de la Suisse romande, 1905. 

 63 Cohendy, Comptes rend, de la soc. de biol., 60, 1906. 



"Bertrand and Weisweiller, Ann. de Pinst. Pasteur, 1906. 

 85 Luersen and Kuhn, Cent. f. Bakt., II, xx, 1908. 



"Grckoff, " Observations cliniques sur 1'effet du lact. agri.," etc., St. Peters- 

 burg, 1907. 



7 Wcyele, Deut. med. Woch., xxxiv, 1908. 

 "Klotz, Zentralbl. f. innere Med., 1908. 



