Contractile vacuole

“ The facts would thus seem to warrant the assertion that, as a rule, the venous blood flowing from the intestinal tract of an animal, fed on a rich proteid diet, contains a much larger number of leucocytes than the arterial blood flowing to the intestine; although, if space permitted, we might instance certain occasional exceptions due to various causes, which, however, do not reflect against the view that there is a marked production of leucocytes in the lymph spaces surrounding the intestine, and in the lymph glands of the mesentery, as a normal accompaniment to digestive proteolysis. ”

“ When cells within the interior of the body have become injured, or have passed their usefulness, they are removed by the phagocytes or white blood-corpuscles, and must be replaced by other cells. In the case of bacterial infections, as tumors, boils, or contagious dis-eases, the bacteria feed upon the proteids of the blood. The white blood corpuscles are destroyed in the conflict, or effort to remove the intruders, and all these substances must be replaced by proteids from food. ”

“ The liver and kidneys are the natural guardians of the body against the toxines we are speaking of, and frequently they are over-strained; the soured milk treatment greatly lightens their load. In malignant disease of the stomach, soured milk will frequently be retained when all other foods are rejected. In cases of neurasthenia and gout it has also proved of value, and in the "run-down" condition which is so common in middle life. Chronic diarrhœa and certain forms of constipation have in numerous instances yielded to the treatment, the whey culture being usually found the most suitable. ”

“ Certain forms of carbohydrates are more susceptible to bacterial fermentation than others. Herter claims that sucrose and glucose are much more so than lactose, maltose, or starch. The substances thus formed through bacterial activity are not believed to be toxic in character, but merely irritating. However, the irritation arising from excessive fermentation in the stomach may lead to gastric disturbances of a more or less serious nature; hence the amount of carbohydrate taken under certain conditions must be adjusted carefully. ”

“ There are two methods of killing bacteria—sterilization and pasteurization. By sterilization is meant the process of rendering the milk germ free by heating, by boiling. Many of the germs found in milk are comparatively harmless, merely causing the souring of milk; but other microbes are occasionally present which cause serious diseases, such as measles, typhoid and scarlet fever, diphtheria, tuberculosis, and diarrhea. It is always necessary to heat the milk before using in warm weather, and during the winter it is also important when infectious or contagious diseases are prevalent. ”

“ Every thing indicates a special provision for a special contingency. We all know how readily cow's milk coagulates on the addition of acids, but healthy human milk will not do so. No coagulation is effected either by acids, alcohol, rennet, or by infusion of the stomach of the foetus, at least for some days. Neither has it the same tendency to run into acescency that cows' milk exhibits. In speaking of this phenomenon, I am aware that it applies only to the milk of such mothers as are supported by a generous diet ”

“ If there are ten times as many germs as blood-corpuscles, the bacterial suspension contains approximately 45,000,000 germs per cubic centimeter. The number of germs present will of course vary with the density of the emulsion. The bacterial suspension is heated at the lowest temperature and for the shortest possible time to kill it. The amount of sterilization will differ with different organisms; 60° C. or less maintained for thirty minutes or less is usually sufficient. Cultures from the vaccine are finally made to insure that it is sterile and safe and some preservative added. ”

“ It will be seen, that even after the arterial and venous systems have been properly injected, there still remains a prolific source of putrefaction in the liquids contained in the intestines, and the thoracic viscera; for instance, the fecal matter contained in the intestines, and the undigested food in the stomach at the [Pg 63] time of death, must all be evacuated, and the organs containing them properly cleaned and injected, and unless this be done fermentation will set in, and be followed by rapid decay of the surrounding tissues. ”

“ For various reasons meat must be held less virulent than milk, but mainly because it is less frequently the seat of tubercle than the udder, and because it is usually cooked before being eaten. The muscular tissue of the ox appears to be unfavorable to colonization by the bacillus, and although the intermuscular lymph glands do not partake of this inherent resistance, yet as the glands are very frequently affected from the tissues which they drain, they necessarily partake in some degree of the comparative immunity of the muscles. ”

“ It may fairly be concluded from hence, that Milk is not proper Food in acid Constitutions; for if Milk, upon the Mixture of Acids, turn into Curds and Whey, it is reasonable to expect, that if it be taken by [47] Persons whose Bodies abound with Acids, it shall be separated into a thin serous Fluid, and a strong Coagulum; which turning grumous, may cause Obstructions in the Viscera, while it ceases to be mixed and diluted with the Serum, which instead of performing that Office, may go off in the Discharges of the Skin, or of Urine, leaving the Body pale, faint and weak ”

“ The receptacles in which the milk is allowed to stand, the vessels in which it is measured, and the person who handles it must be absolutely clean, and the nurse must keep in mind the fact that pasteurization does not completely destroy the bacterial growth in milk, that it merely diminishes it, and she must see that the milk which has undergone the pasteurizing process is kept cold, otherwise the microörganisms which are present, even if to a less extent than in raw milk, will undoubtedly multiply. ”

“ The conditions which render a person liable to develop anaphylaxis and the mechanism by which it is established are as yet imperfectly understood.
_Vaccine Treatment._--The vaccine treatment elaborated by A. E. Wright consists in injecting, while the disease is still active, specially prepared dead cultures of the causative organisms, and is based on the fact that these "vaccines" render the bacteria in the tissues less able to resist the attacks of the phagocytes. ”

“ Tubercle in its Various forms and leprosy have also been included in the list of possible complications of vaccination, though without any sufficient proof. The employment of calf lymph, treated with glycerin after the manner first advocated by S. Monckton Copeman, will obviate any such danger, for even if tubercle bacilli or the Streptococcus of erysipelas were by chance present in the lymph material when collected, it has been found experimentally that they are quite unable to survive prolonged exposure to the action of a 50% solution of glycerin in water. ”

“ The risk of contamination is much greater when a bottle with a long tube is used, for the bacteria readily find a lodgment in it; and it is to be remembered that not only do the bacteria present in the milk at the time it is swallowed continue to decompose it in the stomach, but they continue to multiply, so that, if even a few are present in the milk when it is taken, they may within a short time multiply greatly, and produce extensive changes in the food if they find conditions favorable to their growth in the intestinal canal. ”

“ Hence the necessity of sterilizing immediately all milk which is not received directly from the cow. Besides, cows are often infected with tuberculosis, foot-and-mouth disease, splenic fever, pneumonia, and other dangerous disorders. Their milk may be a direct cause of infection. When it is sterilized there is less danger from it; but even then it is not, of course, a wholesome food, because of the poisons which may be produced in the animal during the progress of the disease, and because a sick and weakened cow cannot give wholesome milk. ”

“ In addition, sterilized milk is a different article from fresh milk, its chemical composition being altered by the process. The milk of the cow, when ingested, is changed upon encountering the gastric juices, into whey, a liquid, and into a tough mass of curd most difficult of digestion. To call milk a liquid food is absurd, for the solid matter in a pint of milk is equal to that in a half pound of meat, and in its dense coagulated form it is vastly more difficult of digestion. ”

“ Microbes breed in fermentation, consequently, every particle of undigested food remaining in the stomach or intestines becomes an ideal nursery for their propagation. It has been demonstrated that food that has been subjected to the action of the gastric juice decomposes far more rapidly than that which has not—hence, with imperfect digestion, fermentation quickly takes place. If microbes are now introduced into the system, either by contact with sick persons, inhaling impure air in crowded public buildings, or breathing in the dust on ill-kept streets, there is danger ahead ”

“ Any cause that lowers the vitality by depressing the [Pg 12] system, reduces the resistance to bacteria and is therefore apt to favor their growth. Exhausting diseases such as anemia, obesity, alcoholism, diabetes, fatigue, or even exposure to cold, are instances. Germ growth is also favored by the presence of dead, or injured tissues, of blood clots, of foreign substances, and above all, by the presence of some of the substances in which the germ has already been growing at the time of its inoculation, and containing some of its toxins. ”

“ Mrs F.K.J. need have no fear of any harm coming to her as a result of eating cottage cheese, but she should not take the whey unless she has decided to undergo a whey cure and take nothing but whey; in this latter case, there being no other foods taken, there will be no germs to act harmfully upon it. If there is much flatulence and stomach or bowel trouble sweet milk or whey will simply feed the germs which are the cause of the digestive trouble, or self-poisoning, and are thus far better discarded. ”

“ It is true that there are differences in chemical composition between the milk of woman and that of the cow, but these variations in percentage of proteids, fats, and carbohydrates are of less importance than the infection of milk with harmful bacteria. The child that takes its food exclusively from the breast of a healthy mother obtains a food that is free from poisonous bacteria, while the bottle-fed child may take into its body with its food a great number and variety of germs, some of which may be quite deadly in their effects. ”

“ While the inner tissues of healthy animals are free from bacteria, the natural passages as the respiratory and digestive tracts, being in more direct contact with the exterior, become more readily infected. This is particularly true with reference to the intestinal tract, for in the undigested residue, bacterial activity is at a maximum. The result is that fecal matter contains enormous numbers of organisms so that the possibility of pollution of any food medium such as milk with such material is sure to introduce elements that seriously affect the quality of the product. ”

“ Stock should be given pure and wholesome water and no decomposed or spoiled food should be used.
The infection traceable directly to the cow is modified materially by the conditions under which the animal is kept and the character of the feed consumed. The nature of the fecal matter is in part dependent upon the character of the food. The more nitrogenous the ration fed, the softer are the fecal discharges, producing a condition which is more likely to soil the coat of the animal unless care is taken. The same is true with animals kept on pasture in comparison with those fed dry fodder. ”

“ Discretion must therefore be exercised in interpreting negative results in the lower animals. For purposes of inoculation young vigorous cultures must be used. The bacteria are mixed with some indifferent fluid, or a fluid culture is employed. The injections are made by means of a hypodermic syringe into the subcutaneous tissue, into a vein, into one of the serous sacs, or more rarely into some special part of the body. The animal, after injection, must be kept in favourable surroundings, and any resulting symptoms noted. ”

“ Some of these bacteria are, without doubt, benign in their effect upon man; as, for example, the particular species used to produce koumiss and other varieties of fermented milk now recommended by physicians. But there are many other kinds of bacteria that find life in milk congenial, whose effect upon the human system is not salutary, and, if milk infected with those varieties is used for feeding infants, the result is quite likely to be a disturbance of their digestive system, producing diarrhea and cholera infantum and possibly death. ”

“ Care must be taken of what I before advised, that before the Milk be thoroughly brought into Use, the latent Acid in the Bowels be first corrected and discharged by absorbent and cleansing Medicines, and a laudable Diet premised for some Time, that no Coagulation of the Milk, or other Inconveniencies, be incurred. Upon this Foot a certain Cure is to be expected. A prudent Physician will easily dispose a Body whose Powers are not entirely destroyed to receive this Diet. ”

“ An excess of protein is no less injurious, as it cannot be stored in the body, but must be eliminated. Especially injurious is an excess of proteins containing purin-bodies, which produce urea and uric acid, thereby causing forms of kidney disease, gout, and rheumatisms. Excess of food, combined with sluggish elimination, produces putrefaction and fermentation in the intestine, resulting in auto-intoxication from the poisonous gases and chemicals, thereby inducing irritability, nervousness, languor, low resistance to germ diseases, colds. ”