PUTREFACTIVE PROCESSES IN THE INTESTINE. 497 



processes in the intestine under physiological conditions are kept within 

 certain limits cannot be answered positively, still it may be asserted 

 that the faint acid reaction and the absorption of water and the rela- 

 tively rapid movement, of the contents of the small intestine and its 

 absorption, are important factors. 



That the acid reaction in the intestine has a preventive influence on 

 the putrefactive processes follows from the existing relation between 

 the degree of acidity of the gastric juice and the putrefaction in the 

 intestine. Since the investigations and observations of KAST, STADEL- 

 MANX, WASBUTZKI, BIERNACKI and MESTER had proven that an increased 

 putrefaction in the intestine occurred when the quantity of hydrochloric 

 acid in the gastric juice was diminished or deficient, SCHMITZ 1 has lately 

 shown in man that on the administration of hydrochloric acid, produc- 

 ing a hyperacidity of the gastric juice, the putrefaction in the intestine 

 may be checked. The question arises whether the reaction in the 

 small intestine is always acid and whether the acidity is strong enough 

 to prevent putrefaction. In this connection it must be recalled that 

 the acidity of the contents of the small intestine is not due to hydro- 

 chloric acid, but chiefly to organic acids, acid salts, and free carbon 

 dioxide. There are several observations as to the reaction of the intes- 

 inal contents, by MOORE and ROCKWOOD, MOORE and BERGIN, MATTHES 

 and MARQUARDSEX, I. MUXK, NEXCKI and ZALESKI, HEMMETER, 2 

 although they are somewhat contradictory. From these reports one 

 can conclude that the reaction may vary not only among different 

 animals, but also in the same animals under varying conditions. There 

 is no doubt that the acid reaction in many cases is due to the presence 

 of organic acids. On testing with various indicators it has been shown 

 that sometimes the upper parts, and often the lower parts, are acid, 

 due to acid salts such as NaHCO 3 and free CO 2 , and finally that in certain 

 animals the intestinal contents are alkaline throughout. The question 

 how, under these conditions, putrefaction is excluded, and how the acidity 

 of the gastric contents influences the intestinal putrefaction, cannot be 

 explained. It is very probable that the bacterial flora of the intestine 

 is of very great importance and it is possible, as BIEXSTOCK admits, that 

 the explanation lies in an antagonistic bacterial action and that the 

 carbohydrates, especially lactose, which retard putrefaction, form a good 

 nutritive media for those bacteria which destroy the putrefactive pro- 

 ducers or retard their development. According to HOROWITZ an unequal 



1 Zeitschr. f. physiol. Chem., 19, 401, which includes all the pertinent literature. 



2 Moore and Rockwood, Journ. cf Physiol., 21; Moore and Bergin, Amer. Journ. 

 of Physiol., 3; Matthes and Marquardsen, Maly's Jahresber., 28; Munk, Centralbl. f. 

 Physiol., 16; Nencki and Zaleski, Zeitschr. f. physiol. Chem., 27; Hemmeter, Pfliiger's 

 Arch., 81. 



