96 BACTERIAL POISONS OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES. 



Fliigge discussed the question as to whether or not the poisonous 

 properties of these peptonizing bacilli are due to the peptons formed, 

 and came to the conclusion that this could not be the case. He 

 found among the twelve species some that produced peptons much 

 more energetically than do the harmful kinds. In fact, one of the 

 most highly virulent species produced the least pepton. Further- 

 more, the symptoms that followed the injections were not those that 

 are induced by pepton. It is true that different investigators, who 

 have tested the nutritive value of peptons and albumoses on the 

 lower animals and on healthy and sick men, are unanimous in the 

 verdict that the long-continued employment of these preparations 

 causes in both men and dogs severe intestinal irritation. Ziintz 

 noted that dogs fed on peptons suffered from an abundant, watery 

 diarrhoea, and eliminated from three to six times as much nitrogen 

 unused as those fed upon meat, and Munk obtained like results. 

 Pfeiffer induced in himself and in another man intestinal irritation 

 and diarrhoea by large doses of pepton and Neumeister states : " By 

 long-continued use of these preparations, symptoms of marked irri- 

 tation and injury to the intestines uniformly resulted, and con- 

 sequently the prescription of albumoses in disease can scarcely be 

 regarded as * rational.' " The reason why partly digested milk is 

 often so well borne by children is due to the fact that but little 

 pepton is formed, and from all that we know of the nutritive value 

 of albumoses and peptons, the long-continued employment of pep- 

 tonized milk in the feeding of infants cannot be recommended ; but 

 Fliigge was right in concluding that the toxic properties of cultures 

 of peptonizing bacteria found in milk by him were not due to the 

 peptons. This has been conclusively shown by more recent re- 

 searches in Fliigge's laboratory prosecuted by Liibbert.' This in- 

 vestigator has extended the study of one of the most virulent species 

 of peptonizing bacilli found by Fliigge. He has shown that this 

 microorganism rapidly digests the casein of milk, while it has no 

 action on either the fat or the lactose. Pure milk cultures of this 

 bacillus were readily taken by guinea-pigs and caused death within 

 four days. Three young dogs fed with such cultures developed 

 severe diarrhoea after two hours and died within from four to seven 

 days ; while older dogs consumed large quantities of the milk and 

 remained unaffected. This is especially interesting, inasmuch as it 

 is a well-known fact that after the second year of life, children sel- 

 dom suffer from summer diarrhoeas. Section of the animals killed 

 with these cultures showed slight swelling and injection of the 

 mucous membrane of the intestine. The bacteria could not be dis- 

 covered outside of the intestines, eitiier in the blood or the organs. 

 This demonstrates that death resulted from intoxication and was not 

 due to sepsis. Further researches demonstrated the fact that the 

 ' Zeitschrift, f. Hygiene, 22, 1. 



