318 INFECTIONS OF THE DIGESTIVE TRACT 



adequate secretion of hydrochloric acid is favorable to 

 fermentative decompositions and even to the beginning 

 of putrefaction, if putrefactive bacteria are abundantly 

 present. It is clear that in such cases the greater the 

 freedom of the food from putrefactive bacteria, the less 

 will be the liability to putrefaction at lower levels, since 

 the stomach in the condition under consideration is 

 unable to extensively destroy such bacteria, even in 

 their vegetative forms. In the present connection I 

 lay especial stress on the avoidance of putrefactive 

 bacteria, but the introduction of pathogenic organisms 

 related to the colon type, including, for example, organ- 

 isms capable of inducing dysentery, should also be 

 avoided, since any injury to the mucous membrane of the 

 tract tends to impair the physiological inhibitions to pu- 

 trefactive decomposition. The use of cooked food goes a 

 long way toward securing conditions of sterility within 

 the stomach. It is, however, usually impracticable 

 to live exclusively on food that is sterile. The use of 

 milk, for example, means the introduction of very large 

 numbers of bacteria. So long as these bacteria are 

 lactic-acid formers, no harm is done, but in many 

 samples of milk there are putrefactive organisms, and 

 these may be present in large numbers. This is true 

 of B. putrificus and of an organism closely resembling 

 B. aerogenes capsulatus, but differing ordinarily from it in 

 being less pathogenic for experimental animals. Cheese 

 is another article of food which commonly contains large 

 numbers of putrefactive bacteria. In normal stomachs 

 these putrefactive bacteria are quickly disposed of ; in 



