110 TRANSFORMATION OF THE INTESTINAL FLORA 



for the combined list of controls and subjects receiving the whey 

 broth culture of B. acidophilus, except subject D and perhaps A whose 

 figures were as low at 5.0 and .5.5 respectively. These two subjects were 

 very susceptible to lactose feeding, requiring much less than 300 grams 

 to effect a simplification of the flora. When they received as much as 

 300 grams daily the implantation of B. acidophilus was practically 

 complete, and there was a tendency toward a diarrheal condition. 

 There was a large remnant of lactose in the feces, and the conclusion 

 is to be drawn that the excess of lactose in itself caused some intestinal 

 irritation either directly or through the production of more acid than 

 could be neutralized or absorbed as quickly as it is formed. However, 

 these figures are well within the range of normal stools, as will be seen 

 by comparison with the results of Howe and Hawk (1912) and Nelson 

 and Williams (1916-1917). Certainly there can be no question of in- 

 creased acidity in the stools of subjects who received 150 grams of 

 lactose together with the 150 cubic centimeters of B. acidophilus cul- 

 ture, as compared with those who took no lactose at all. 



