Antiperistalsis in its relation to tubercle bacilli and other bacteria in the alimentary tract

Fifteen years ago Grützner showed that charcoal, starch and similar substances when introduced in normal salt solution into the rectum, ascended in the intestinal tract and after from four to six hours could be demonstrated in the stomach. His work was confirmed by some and refuted by others. This problem has of late assumed a new aspect inasmuch as some workers have claimed that when bacteria are introduced in the same way, within a short time they ascend by means of the antiperistaltic action of the alimentary tract to the stomach, œsophagus and thence into the respiratory tract. The most recent report of this phenomenon comes from the Kaiserliche Gesundheitsant, which concludes that this antiperistaltic movement must be considered, not only in experimental studies on tuberculosis, but also in the prophylaxis against infectious diseases; more especially in the disinfection in cases of cholera and typhoid fever, where the sputum may in this way be contaminated.