FERMENTED MILKS. 5 



place in the upper two-thirds of the colon. The stools were acid 

 or neutral. 



The same writer in another paper (14) shows that intestinal putre- 

 faction as indicated by the excretion of ethereal sulphates in the 

 urine was materially reduced by the addition of a sour milk to the 

 diet and that this reduction, which may reasonably be attributed to a 

 disinfection of the large intestine, continued after the ingestion of sour 

 milk was discontinued. This may be taken as an indication that the 

 growth of the bacteria continued after their introduction ceased. 

 This disinfecting action of the lactic-acid culture was not appreciably 

 influenced by variations in the amount of sugar eaten, indicating 

 that the ordinary diet contains sufficient sugar to support the growth 

 of the lactic-acid bacteria in the intestine. 



Belonovsky (3) arrived at somewhat similar results in experiments 

 in which mice were fed a basic ration of sterilized grain and water. 

 Mice which received in addition milk cultures of B. hulgaricus for one 

 and one-half months showed this organism in the droppings 15 days 

 after the last feeding. When the milk cultures were fed for four 

 months B. hulgaricus was present in the droppings for four weeks after 

 the last feeding. He states that the bacteria in the droppings, espe- 

 cially the gas-forming bacteria, were very much reduced by feeding 

 B. hulgaricus, but were not affected by the addition of the basic diet 

 of sterile milk or milk curdled with lactic acid. 



Many experiments of a similar nature could be quoted, as well as 

 clinical observations, tending to show that the ingestion of milk 

 cultures of B. hulgaricus reduces or eliminates evidences of intestinal 

 putrefaction. On the other hand, Herter (41) found that in the 

 digestive tract of a monkey, killed after feeding for two weeks on milk 

 soured with B. hulgaricus, this organism was abundant in the upper 

 part of the small intestine only. In the lower part and in the large 

 intestine B. hulgaricus was present in only moderate numbers as com- 

 pared with other bacteria. 



Rahe (70) , in a recently published paper, maintains that the differ- 

 ence between the B. hulgaricus and certain acid-forming bacteria, 

 which are known to occur normally in the intestines, is so slight that 

 they can be distinguished only with difficulty, and he suggests that 

 belief on the part of some investigators that B. hulgaricus becomes 

 established in the intestines was caused by their inability to distin- 

 guish between these two types. His work tends to show that while 

 the B. hvlgaricus appears in the feces during the feeding, it persists 

 for only a few days after the ingestion of cultures ceases. 



The situation may, perhaps, be fairly summed up by saying that 

 while there is no conclusive evidence that B. hulgaricus is able to 

 establish itself in the intestines in such a way that other bacteria are 

 driven out. it is undoubtedly true that in many cases marked improve- 



