132 INFECTIONS OF THE DIGESTIVE TRACT 



activity in the digestive tract where it would otherwise 

 have been overlooked. In some instances, also, one 

 sees a great development of anaerobes in the fermentation 

 tubes. Sometimes one sees sedimentary fields which 

 consist wholly of streptococcal forms and of forms which 

 are probably B. aerogenes capsulatus. This has been 

 repeatedly noticed in some cases of advanced chronic 

 saccharo-butyric putrefaction with an extreme degree 

 of ansemia. The tendency for the organisms of the B. 

 coli type to be poorly represented in cases of chronic 

 saccharo-butyric putrefaction is evident in the sediment 

 of the fermentation tubes. In some cases one finds that 

 the fermentation tubes develop a greenish color in the 

 open aerobic arm of the tube and also a greenish pellicle. 

 Culture shows this to be due to the B. pyocyaneus. 

 This organism has been found in only a small number of 

 cases and usually, but not always, in persons presenting 

 signs of digestive disorder. 



It cannot be claimed that we now know the full value 

 or the limitations of the information to be derived from 

 the careful study of the sediments of the fermentation 

 tubes, but it may safely be said that this method of 

 investigation has often been helpful in gaining a clew to 

 the nature of the dominant organisms in the intestinal 

 tract. One cannot rely upon it alone, but in connection 

 with data derived from other methods it helps us to 

 form a conception of the bacterial types present and 

 active in the lower part of the digestive tract. One 

 finds in the same case almost regularly the same kinds of 

 sediments, and this gives a degree of confidence hi the 



