BACTERIAL EXAMINATION OF THE STOOLS IN SUSPECTED CANCER OF THE STOMACH

It is surprising that the facts presented by Rudolf Schmidt from Neusser's clinic in 1906 regarding the presence of the Boas-Oppler bacilli in the stools in cancer of the stomach has attracted so little attention in view both of Schmidt's well-known standing and the expressed conviction of Neusser as to the significance of the finding. Schmidt showed the following fact: The bacterial examination of the stools by Gram's stain under normal conditions gave a picture of very few organisms, the Gram-negative colon group vastly out-numbering any Gram-positive organisms. The normal stool Schmidt called Gram-negative. A stool that with Gram's method showed uniform-sized bacilli far out-numbering all other organisms he regarded as Gram-positive. Occasionally a stool was found in which Gram-staining organisms in great varieties outnumbered other organisms; these organisms were chiefly cocci and non-uniform