32 HARRY WARREN ANDERSON 



This result was to be expected in the light of the previous experiments on 

 this person. 



In 2 of the first 4 experiments the plates taken from the 2nd stools, that is, 

 about 24 hours later, showed a few scattered colonies of the same species that 

 was ingested. In subsequent stools no trace of the original yeast could be found. 



The fact that the yeasts were found distributed fairly evenly throughout 

 the stools is to be explained only on the ground that the ingestion of the 

 organisms so soon after the passage of the previous stools permitted a mixture 

 of the cells with the food in the stomach. It is probable that the yeasts are 

 able to multiply in the stomach, due to the favorable acid condition and the 

 lack of harmful secretions. They are then passed on with the food and from 

 this point probably do not find conditions conducive to rapid multiplication. 

 The absence of these yeasts in subsequent stools indicates that they pass along 

 with the food, and that the few wlpch do remain in the stomach or intestine 

 are not able to multiply to any great extent before they are finally passed out 

 in subsequent stools. The fact that they are not able to establish a foothold 

 anywhere along the way is of fundamental importance, since the rich carbo- 

 hydrate food which passes through the digestive tract would give them an 

 opportunity to produce harmful products within the body. 



The person to whom these various species were fed suffered no inconveni- 

 ence during the course of the experiments. When yeasts with power of active 

 fermentation were fed, as for example, Saccharomyces ellipsoideus, there some- 

 times resulted a slight 'full' feeling a few hours later, but this was not of long 

 duration, and apparently no large amount of gas was developed either in the 

 stomach or the intestine. 



A more detailed account of the feeding experiment with the sprue organism 

 from Dr. Ashford is necessary. This culture was pronounced a typical sprue 

 organism by Dr. Ashford and agreed fully with his description of the typical 

 sprue yeast. On the basis of his results with animals, he expresses the opinion 

 that the virulence of the yeast is lost after being on mediums for some time, 

 and this virulence can be regained only by passing the culture through some 

 susceptible animal. Since my culture had been on mediums for some months 

 and had presumably, to a large degree lost its virulence, it was decided to 

 test its period of life in the digestive tract of the person previously fed with 

 the other culture yeasts. Therefore, a mass of about 1 gm. was taken from 

 the surface of an agar slant and ingested without other food. This feeding 

 took place a few minutes after the passage of stools which were saved and 

 tested, with negative results. No pain was felt during the first day after feeding 

 and no intestinal disturbance was noticed. Unfortunately, there was no pas- 

 sage of stools for over 48 hours, and some of the symptoms subsequently 

 described may have been due to the constipated condition of the person. The 

 first stools secured were very hard and lumpy. The results of plating were 

 the same as in other feeding experiments, except that the first inch of the 

 feces gave entirely negative results. 



After the first 48 hours considerable discomfort to the person resulted. An 

 'uneasy' feeling in the intestine, with pain in the region of the stomach, and 

 'heartburn' were noticed. However, at no time was there excessive gas in the 

 stomach or intestine, and no tendency toward a diarrheal condition. The next 

 passage of stools was also delayed, occurring 36 hours after the first. This 

 was plated and gave a large percentage of the type ingested. There were sev- 

 eral colonies of pink yeasts in the plates from the 1st stools but none in 

 those of the 2nd. Penicillium colonies in considerable numbers appeared in 

 these plates. All parts of the 2nd sample gave the sprue organism and the 



