INFECTIONS OF THE DIGESTIVE TRACT 241 



In most cases in which the faeces contain considerable 

 skatol the urine gives a strong reaction with dimethyl- 

 amidobenzaldehy de . 



Skatol behaves in the organism much like indol as 

 respects its toxic properties, although it is somewhat 

 less poisonous. There is seldom reason to attribute to 

 skatol any definite pathological effects, as it is formed in 

 quantities too small to fall under suspicion. It is pos- 

 sible, however, that like phenol it may, under some con- 

 ditions, play an auxiliary part in association with other 

 substances in damaging living cells. 1 



Indol. It has long been known that indol is a 

 product of putrefactive decomposition of proteids, and 

 Baumann showed many years ago that this substance is 

 formed in the large intestine in the course of putrefac- 

 tive processes occurring there. He showed, moreover, 

 that the absorption of indol from the intestine is followed 

 by the appearance of indican in the urine. Some ob- 

 servers have concluded that the indican of the urine 

 may in part depend on the liberation of indol from the 

 breaking down of body cells. I regard the evidence in 

 favor of this view as unsatisfactory and believe that the 

 indican of the urine depends exclusively on the resorp- 

 tion of indol from the intestinal tract excepting in those 

 cases in which pathological processes such as a putrid 

 abscess are associated with the formation of the base. 



The observation has been repeatedly made by clini- 



1 There is an excellent discussion of the fate of skatol to be found 

 in a recent paper of Porcher and Hervieux, entitled "Untersuch- 

 ungen uber das Skatol," Zdtschr. f. physiol. Chem., xlv, p. 487, 

 1905. 



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