90 INFECTIONS OF THE DIGESTIVE TRACT 



ing power and that this reducing power is much more 

 active in general than the reducing action of vegetable 

 cells. If one places in a cylinder or flask a quantity of 

 finely divided fresh muscle of liver from a mammal and 

 immerses this material in a dilute solution of methylene 

 blue, under such conditions that oxygen from the air is 

 largely excluded from the region occupied by the divided 

 tissues, it is soon noticeable that the blue color begins to 

 disappear, owing to the conversion of methylene blue 

 into leucomethylene blue. The reducing action of fresh 

 liver has been successfully employed by Professor Theo- 

 bald Smith in rendering the closed arm of the fermen- 

 tation tube more strictly anaerobic and thus facilitating 

 the growth of* certain strictly anaerobic bacteria. With 

 these facts in mind one naturally asks whether the use 

 of large quantities of raw muscle may not considerably 

 aid in the production of anaerobic conditions in the di- 

 gestive tract. In the case of carnivorous animals living 

 on raw meat there seems little doubt that anaerobic 

 conditions may exist throughout the digestive tract, and 

 I think it probable that the reducing action of the meat 

 in the upper part of the tract may materially contribute 

 to diminish the quantity of oxygen carried into the di- 

 gestive tract. Even in the case of man this factor is one 

 which cannot be entirely ignored. Although human 

 beings in civilized countries for the most part eat their 

 meat after it has been subjected to cooking, there are 

 many instances in which large quantities of raw or nearly 

 raw meat are eaten. Moreover, meat that has been 

 slightly cooked still retains considerable reducing power. 



