INFECTIONS OF THE DIGESTIVE TRACT 195 



isms than B. putrificus. Nevertheless in my experience 

 the strongest methyl mercaptan reactions have been 

 obtained from those cases in which B. putrificus was 

 present. B. putrificus grown in peptone bouillon makes 

 more mercaptan than any other anaerobe with which 

 we have experimented in my laboratory. The mer- 

 captan reactions obtained from bouillon cultures made 

 with the mixed flora from some healthy young children 

 I am disposed to attribute to B. putrificus. This 

 organism is very widespread and is present in most 

 samples of dust. It is non-hsemolytic and probably 

 makes no toxins. Considerable numbers of the typical 

 bacillus may be injected intraperitoneally into guinea- 

 pigs without causing noteworthy damage. 



I believe B. putrificus to be the most energetic an- 

 aerobe now known in respect to the ability to proteo- 

 lyze native proteids. Bienstock's organism is probably 

 representative of a group whose members vary con- 

 siderably in biochemical properties. We have in our 

 laboratory a strain of B. putrificus of intestinal origin 

 which makes very large quantities of indol in peptone 

 bouillon. It is evident that the presence of such an 

 organism in the intestine might contribute in an impor- 

 tant way to the production of indol. 



In a recent study of the anaerobic bacteria of the 

 mouth, Dr. Antonio Rodella 1 has ascribed importance 

 to B. putrificus as a cause of caries of the teeth and 

 inflammation of the pulp. He finds the substance of the 



'"Ueber anaerobe Mundbakterien und ihre Bedeutung," 

 Archiv f. Hyg., liii, p. 329, 1905. 



