60 TRANSFORMATION OF THE INTESTINAL FLORA 



diet only. There was no reduction of Benedict's solution and the intes- 

 tinal flora was of the usual mixed type. (See Table 23.) 



According to the above results neither lactose nor dextrin is com- 

 pletely absorbed from the intestine of albino rats when two grams are 

 fed daily. In other experiments, reduction was obtained with the fecal 

 specimens of rats which received one gram of lactose or dextrin daily 

 together with one cubic centimeter of B. acidophilus suspension. The 

 reduction tests were not as pronounced, however, as in the experiments 

 described here. 



The demonstration of incomplete disappearance of lactose and 

 dextrin before they reach the colon offers some foundation to the avowed 

 assumption that these carbohydrates favor the proliferation of B. 

 acidophilus in the lower intestine because they serve as pabulum which 

 is readily available to this organism for energy requirement and thus 

 establish for it an optimum environment. Maltose, sucrose and glucose 

 disappear from the intestine before they reach the ileo-caecal valve, and 

 therefore do not establish a favorable environment for the aciduric 

 group of organisms. 



TABLE 23 



THE RELATION OF DIET TO REDUCING CARBOHYDRATES AND TO 



THE BACTERIAL FLORA IN FECAL MATERIAL FROM THE 



CAECUM AND COLON OF RATS 



