III. Influence of Eggwhite upon the Cyclic Circulation of Bacteria in the Splanchnic Area.

Having shown in the 2 preceding articles that eggwhite increases the permeability of the intestinal wall for living bacteria from the intestinal tract into the circulation as well as from the blood stream into the intestinal tract, the question arose whether it is not possible that the bacteria might be absorbed and eliminated at the same time; that is, can living bacteria be absorbed from one segment and eliminated into another part of the intestine by means of the circulation? Also, what effect would eggwhite have to do with this cyclic circulation of bacteria?

Thirty dogs, fasted for 24 hours, operated upon under ether anesthesia, were used for these experiments. The technic consisted of opening the abdomen, ligating and severing the lower part of the duodenum. Twenty-five cubic centimeters of a suspension of B. prodigiosus or B. murii were injected into the duodenum in the first series, and 50 cc. into the upper part of the jejunum in the second series. The suspension of bacteria was made up in a normal salt solution in one series and in one fresh raw eggwhite in the other series. The same media without the bacteria were simultaneously injected into the end adjacent to the ligation to produce the same state in the mucous membrane of the segment in which the bacteria were injected. The dogs were killed in 25 minutes, the various segments of the gut were examined for the presence of the test bacteria with sterile swabs which were smeared on agar plates.

Twice as many dogs were used for this experiment as we are reporting. All experiments in which blood was detected in the ligated segments examined were discarded.