254 BACTERIOLOGY 



CHAPTEE XII 



THE ORGANS AND CAVITIES OF THE BODY AND THEIR 



CONTENTS (continued) 



III. THE F^CES AND URINE 

 The Faces 



Composition and modes of examining. The faeces must 

 at this point be dealt with as a supplement to the study of 

 the intestine, and they are very rich in micro-organisms. 

 When the stools are examined we find constituents derived 

 from the vegetable matters eaten, and remnants of un- 

 digested pieces of animal food, especially larger or smaller 

 pieces of striped muscle fibre, which show the transverse 

 striation distinctly. Fat often occurs in normal stools in 

 the form of droplets, and, in addition to these constituents, 

 epithelial cells are also found (usually cylindrical), red 

 and white blood-corpuscles, masses of detritus, crystals, and 

 under pathological conditions still other appearances. Cer- 

 tain varieties of bacteria can be detected in the meconium 

 of new-born infants, as well as in the evacuations of adults. 

 According to Nothnagel, micrococci are found in preponde- 

 rating numbers in firm, and bacilli in fluid, stools. 



In the examination of faeces, forms are found almost 

 constantly which stain blue with tincture of iodine, and 

 which Nothnagel considers to be identical with the Clos- 

 tridium butyricum. Other micro-organisms also assume a 

 blue colour under application of tincture of iodine ; for 

 example, Von Jaksch found rods in the faeces which recall 



