STUDIES ON THE NATURE OF BACILLUS ACIDOPHILUS THERAPY

Abstract

The relief obtained from constipation and diarrhea by the use of B. acidophilus has been interpreted in several ways. In previous communications¹ it has been shown that the action of B. acidophilus milk is neither strictly physical nor chemical, that is, does not depend upon volume or chemical constituents, but appears to be essentially a bacteriologic phenomenon. This conclusion was based on the fact that neither sterile skim milk nor sterilized B. acidophilus milk influenced constipation, as did B. acidophilus milk in which the viable organisms were uninjured. The foregoing experiments were open to some criticism on the ground that sterilizing B. acidophilus milk caused a change in chemical composition. This study was therefore extended along somewhat different lines. In order to feed B. acidophilus milk in which the viable organisms were eliminated, the following procedure was adopted: B. acidophilus milk prepared in the usual way was centrifuged, and the