INFECTIONS OF THE DIGESTIVE TRACT 299 



happens that people have a mild grade of saccharo- 

 butyric putrefaction for a long period of time without 

 being conscious of any distinct impairment of powers 

 and without being conscious of anything approaching 

 invalidism. On the other hand, there are some persons 

 who develop this type of putrefactive disorder in a high 

 degree. In them the evidences of intestinal indigestion 

 are pronounced, and there is, after a time, a decline in 

 the capacity of the organism to perform work. Such 

 persons develop a condition of distinct invalidism, and 

 life may be considerably shortened in consequence of 

 the intoxications arising from this condition. As a 

 rule, however, the severest cases of chronic saccharo- 

 butyric putrefaction are not of the simple type at 

 present under discussion, but are rather of that form 

 which is associated with the production of an excess 

 of indol in the intestinal tract. 



Some of the immediate and remote consequences of 

 chronic excessive saccharo-butyric intestinal putrefac- 

 tion may be briefly enumerated. As already stated, 

 the excessive production of ammonium butyrate is 

 apt to lead to irritability of the digestive tract, and this 

 is the more pronounced if there is also an abundant indol 

 production. There is a tendency to desquamation of 

 the epithelium of the digestive tract in the mouth and 

 stomach and probably throughout the entire digestive 

 tract. The indications of this desquamation in the 

 mouth and on the tongue are often plain. A frequent 

 sign of such desquamation in the intestinal tract is 

 the presence of an excessive quantity of epithelium or 



