Abstract
The bactericidal power of the free H-ion of the gastric contents has been thought to be the principal disinfecting agent. We have used B. prodigiosus as the test bacteria. Suspensions of one agar plate growth in 100 cc. saline were administered to dogs by stomach tube. Alcohol was used to stimulate gastric secretion. Fifty cc. of a 7% ethyl alcohol were administered by stomach tube. Ninety-six dogs were used for these experiments. The number were equally divided in each experiment as nearly as possible. All animals were without food for 24 hours before the experiments began. The accompanying table shows the results. All animals were killed 2 hours after the administration of the material. The lumen of the stomach and small intestine was examined immediately by transferring as uniform an inoculum from the contents of the various levels on to the surface of agar plates. Bent glass spreaders were used for uniform distribution and the same spreader was used to smear other sterile agar plates for dilutions in case of overgrowth. Where the B. prodigiosus appeared in the same concentration as was present in the original suspension, the growth was recorded as 100%.
The dogs showing a free acidity and a deficit of free acid after the 2 hour period are recorded separately in the table. One could conclude that where free acid was present, the administered bacteria were not viable within the stomach or small intestine after 2 hours.
The last 2 experimental results shown on the table do not substantiate the above statement. The alcohol test meal was given by stomach tube. The dogs were given general anesthetic, duodenum opened, B. prodigiosus in saline was injected directly into the duodenum.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.