392 PATHOGENIC MICROORGANISMS 



identical with Bacillus coli upon rye, barley, and other grains. They 

 believe, upon the basis of this discovery, that Bacillus coli is widely 

 distributed in nature and that its presence, unless it appears in large 

 numbers, does not necessarily indicate recent fecal contamination. 

 These reports, however, have not found confirmation by the work of 

 others, and can not, therefore, be as yet accepted. 



In man, Bacillus coli appears in the intestine normally soon after 

 birth, at about the time of taking the first nourishment. 1 Frorrfthis time 

 on, throughout life, the bacillus is a constant intestinal inhabitant ap- 

 parently without dependence upon the diet. Its distribution within the 

 intestine, according to Gushing and Livingood, 2 is not uniform, it being 

 found in the greatest numbers at or about the ileocecal valve, diminish- 

 ing from this point upward to the duodenum and downward as far as 

 the rectum. Adami 3 and others claim that, under normal conditions, 

 the bacillus may invade the portal circulation, possibly by the inter- 

 mediation of leucocytic emigration during digestion. After death, at 

 autopsy, Bacillus coli is often found in the tissues and the blood with- 

 out there being visible lesions of the intestinal mucous, membrane. 4 It 

 is probable, also, that it may enter and live in the circulation a few 

 hours before death during the agonal stages. 



Extensive investigations have been carried out to determine wheth- 

 er or not the constant presence of this microorganism in the intestinal 

 tract is an indication of its possessing a definite physiological function of 

 advantage to its host. It has been argued that it may aid in the fermen- 

 tation of carbohydrates. The question has been approached experiment- 

 ally by a number of investigators. Nuttall and Thierfelder 5 delivered 

 guinea-pigs from the mother by Cesarean section and succeeded in 

 keeping them without infection of the intestinal canal for thirteen days. 

 Although no microorganisms of any kind were found in the feces of 

 these animals, no harm seemed to accrue to them, and some of them 

 even gained in weight. Schottelius, 6 on the other hand, obtained con- 

 tradictory results when working with chicks. Allowing eggs to hatch in 

 an especially constructed glass compartment, he succeeded in keeping the 



Schild, Zeit. f. Hyg., xix, 1895; Lembke, Arch. f. Hyg., xxvi, 1896. 



2 Gushing and Livingood, " Contributions to Med. Sci. by Pupils of Wm. Welch," 

 Johns Hopk. Press, 1900. 



3 Adami, Jour, of Amer. Med. Assn., Dec., 1899. 



4 Birch-HirschfeU, Ziegler's Beitr., 24, 1898. 



* Nuttall und Thierfelder, Zeit. f. Physiol. Chemie, xxi and xxii. 

 6 Schottelius, Arch. f. Hyg., xxxiv, 1889. 



