CHAPTER XIV 

 FECES 



THE feces are the residual mass of material remaining in the intes- 

 tine after the full and complete exercise of the digestive and absorptive 

 functions and are ultimately expelled from the body through the rectum. 



They may be said to be composed of the following substances: 



1. Food residues: (a) those portions of the food which have escaped 

 absorption, and (b) that part of the diet either not digested or incapable 

 of absorption. 



2. The remains of the intestinal and digestive secretions not 

 destroyed or reabsorbed. 



3. Substances excreted into the intestinal tract, notably salts of 

 calcium, iron, and other metals. 



4. The bacterial flora of the intestinal tract. 



5. Cellular elements to which may be added, under pathological 

 conditions, blood, pus, mucus, serum, and parasites. 



6. Abnormally: enteroliths, gall stones, and pancreatic calculi. 

 The amount of the fecal discharge varies with the individual and the 



diet. Upon an ordinary mixed diet various authorities claim that the 

 daily excretion by an adult male will aggregate 110-170 grams with a 

 solid content ranging between 25 and 45 grams; the fecal discharge of 

 such an individual upon a vegetable diet will be much greater and may 

 even be as great as 350 grams and possess a solid content of 75 grams. 

 In the author's own experience the average daily output of moist feces, 

 calculated on the basis of data secured from the examination of over 

 1000 stools, was about 100 grams. The variation in the normal daily 

 output being so great renders this factor of very little value for diag- 

 nostic purposes, except where the composition of the diet is accurately 

 known. Lesions of the digestive tract, a defective absorptive function, 

 or increased peristalsis as well as an admixture of mucus, pus, blood, 

 and pathological products of the intestinal wall may cause the total 

 amount of excrement to be markedly increased. An idea of the varia- 

 tion of the percentage of dry matter in the feces evacuated after the 

 ingestion of different diets may be gathered from a consideration of the 

 following table. 1 



1 Schmidt & Strasburger: "Die Fazes des Menschen", Berlin 1915 



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