86 INFECTIONS OF THE DIGESTIVE TRACT 



for the interpretation of bacterial conditions found in 

 man. The question arises whether the abundant use of 

 meat over a long period of time may not favor the devel- 

 opment of much larger numbers of spore-bearing putre- 

 factive anaerobes in the intestinal tract than would be the 

 case were a different type of proteid substituted for meat. 

 Inquiries made of Dr. Blair, the pathologist in the New 

 York Zoological Gardens, elicited the fact that while, 

 upon the whole, the carnivorous animals are apt to live 

 somewhat longer than the herbivorous animals of about 

 equal size, the carnivora are much more likely to develop 

 conditions of advanced anaemia in the later years of their 

 lives than is the case with the herbivora. Dr. Blair 

 states that it is usual in the later years of life for the car- 

 nivora to show a much diminished volume of blood and 

 at least a moderate fall in the haemoglobin. Instances 

 are stated to be not uncommon in which a pernicious 

 type of anaemia has developed in the carnivora. On 

 the contrary, among the herbivora it is said that pro- 

 nounced anaemias are vejy occasional. The examples 

 of severe anaemia encountered among the herbivora 

 were said by Dr. Blair to be in nearly all instances 

 referable to gross animal parasites. 



INFLUENCE OF FOOD ON HUMAN BACTERIAL FLORA OF 

 THE DIGESTIVE TRACT 



Surprisingly little is known about the influence of 

 different classes of food upon the nature of the micro- 

 organisms in the digestive tract. It is evident that 

 this subject is one that deserves the most careful kind 



