INFECTIONS OF THE DIGESTIVE TRACT 95 



had really been the case, the bacteria must have passed 

 much more abundantly than they did, instead of in 

 the typical manner and in the definite stages observed 

 by Hilgermann, who is inclined to believe with Behring 

 that the mucous membrane in early life is lacking in 

 natural protective substances capable of hindering the 

 penetration of bacteria. 



Of considerable interest in connection with the study 

 of the penetration of the digestive tract by bacteria 

 are the observations of Ficker * on the influence of 

 exhaustion and of hunger upon the passage of bacteria. 

 He calls attention to the fact that states of inanition 

 favor the occurrence of infections, especially those arising 

 from the intestinal tract, but that on the other hand 

 the best nourished and strongest organisms may show 

 a high degree of sensitiveness toward such infections. 

 The experiments of Ficker indicate that excessive 

 exertion is a factor which at times leads to an exhaustion 

 which is a predisposing condition to infection, especially 

 in the case of typhoid fever. This influence of exhaustion 

 on the development of infection has been to some ex- 

 tent studied by Charrin and Roget on white rats which 

 were fatigued in a rotating drum. These animals were 

 shown to be more sensitive to anthrax than the control 

 animals. Ficker selected dogs for his experiments, in- 

 ducing fatigue in them through work in a treadmill. He 

 found that a combination of fasting and fatigue facilitated 

 in an extraordinary way the passage of germs through 



1 " Ueber den Einfluss des Hungers auf die Bakteriendurch- 

 lassigkeit des Intestinaltraktus," Archiv /. Hyg., liv, p. 354, 1905. 



