Research into the chemical processes in the small intestine of man / by Allan Macfadyen, M.D. Ed., M. Nencki, M.D., and N. Sieber, M.D.

  • Macfayden, Allan, 1860-1907
Date:
[1891?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Research into the chemical processes in the small intestine of man / by Allan Macfadyen, M.D. Ed., M. Nencki, M.D., and N. Sieber, M.D. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    19/44 (page 405)
    We isolated in pure cultures from the agar and gelatine plates the following micro-organisms:— 1. A bacterium, resembling closely the bacillus coli commune, and probably identical with the bacillus already isolated during meat diet. 2. A non-liquefying diplococcus. 3. A non-liquefying diplococcus, smaller than the former. Three forms were isolated from the anaerobic plates, viz., two species of cocci, morphologically identical with those already isolated aerobically. The third form was a bacillus, not found on the aerobic plates. It was a long and rod-shaped bacillus, and the bacilli were arranged in circular chains. It was not found on the plates during meat diet. In pure culture it grew also aerobically. We isolated altogether the following forms, amongst which were no putrefactive bacteria:— 1. A liquefying streptococcus. 2. A slender rod-shaped bacillus. 3. A large diplococcus. 4. A small diplococcus. 5. Bacterium, resembling bac. coli commune. 6. A “ chain ” bacillus. 7. Yeast forms. Mould fungi were in this case not found. We noted that with a change of diet, and after a lapse of time, quite different bacteria predominated—in this case, for example, the strepto¬ coccus liquefaciens and the slender rod bacillus. Of those isolated during meat diet we found only the bacterium, resembling the bac. coli commune. All the bacteria isolated were facultative anae¬ robic ; they grew aerobically and anaerobically. III. Cultures after a Meat Diet. Four weeks later, when the patient was again upon meat diet, inoculations were made for a third time from the intestinal contents, and the usual series of cultures therefrom. As formerly, there were numerous bacteria present in the food-mass, and it was possible to distinguish six forms. There were also bacteria, which coloured badly or not at all, and motile bacilli. On the plates there was no general liquefaction of the gelatine, so that we were led to suppose that the liquefying forms already isolated were only sparingly represented in the intestinal contents at this time. Two forms were constantly found—a non-liquefying bacillus, with rounded ends, and an oval bacterium. Complementary experiments were now made