Abstract
Young dogs (2 to 4 mos. old) were placed in warm and humid rooms (90° F. temperature, 85 to 90% humidity) for 3 days. They were given 100 cc. of cows'milk every 8 a. m., 12 noon, and 4 p. m. Half of the animals were given sanitary tap water and half were given polluted water (Chicago River water). No diarrhea developed in any of these 12 animals. Two hours before killing them in an ether chamber, they were given 100 cc. of their respective drinking water samples plus one agar slant of B. prodigiosus. The contents of various levels of the gastro-intestinal tract were diluted in broth and immediately seeded on agar plates. The relative distribution of B. prodigiosus was determined in relation to the concentration of the ingested suspension. Six puppies of about the same size were given the tap water and 6 the polluted water in ordinary temperature rooms. Chart I shows the results. There was an interference with the intestinal bactericidal power in the warm room; this was most marked when polluted water was given instead of tap water. The same experiment was repeated, except that the water samples were brought to pH 8.0 with sodium carbonate solutions. The alkalinized polluted water caused diarrhea in 8 of the 12 puppies. The alkalinized tap water caused semifluid stools in 6 of the 12 puppies. Chart II shows the results. There was an inhibition in the bacterial killing power of the gastro-intestinal tract in the polluted water animals in this experiment.
Non-leaking gastric and appendicial fistulae were established upon 4 grown dogs. The small intestine was attached to the anterior abdominal wall at about the duodenojejunal junction. 300 cc. of cows'milk plus an agar slant of B. prodigiosus was ingested and specimens were removed at the same time from the stomach, small intestine and caecum. The acidity of the gastric contents was titrated for acid-deficit and free acid. The H-ion concentration of the intestinal contents was determined by colorimetric method.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.