108 TRANSFORMATION OF THE INTESTINAL FLORA 



RELATION OF HYDROGEN ION CONCENTRATION TO THE 

 CHARACTER OF THE INTESTINAL FLORA 



In the feeding experiments with albino rats no definite relation could 

 be established between the hydrogen ion concentration and implantation 

 of B. acidophilus in the intestine. Similar attempts have been made 

 more recently to determine whether the rapid development of aciduric 

 organisms following lactose feeding is the result of increased acidity 

 of the intestinal contents. The same methods were employed as in the 

 work on the rats (page 61) except that for the hydrogen ion deter- 

 mination tests of human stools three grams of fecal material were sus- 

 pended in fifty cubic centimeters of neutral water. The subjects in- 

 cluded five individuals who received either 300 or 400 grams of lactose 

 daily, five who took 150 grams of lactose and 150 cubic centimeters of 

 whey broth culture of B. acidophilus, five who received 300 cubic centi- 

 meters of the broth culture, two that were given 1000 cubic centimeters 

 of B. acidophilus milk daily, and two controls subsisting on the ordinary 

 daily diet. A total of thirty-eight hydrogen ion concentration deter- 

 minations was made. The bacteriological findings are presented here 

 along with the pH figures (Table 70). 



TABLE 70 



The Relation of Diet to Hydhooen Ion Concentration and Bacterial Flora in 

 Fecal Specimens from Human Subjects 



