The Hydrogen Ion Concentration of the Stools of New-Born Infants

Abstract

The present work was undertaken to determine the Ph of the meconium, as compared with that of the stools of normal breast-fed infants; to follow the transition, in case of any significant difference, from the Ph of the meconium to the Ph of the stools after breast milk feeding, and to see whether, under similar conditions, large or slight variations occur in the Ph. An attempt has been made to show the significance of meconium to the metabolism of the new-born infant.For a long time, it was customary to observe simply whether the stools were acid or alkaline to litmus and other indicators. Breast milk feeding gave acid stools; cow's milk modifications resulted in alkaline stools. Langstein1 determined the acidity of a number of infants' stools in terms of normal acid or base required for neutralization. The results varied with the indicators used. Titration methods do not, however,show the true acidity. S\l=o"\rensen, in 1912, and Michaelis, in 1914, proved that true acidity depends on the hydrogen ion concentration. They gave methods of determining accurately the true acidity. Howe and Hawk 2 found by electrometric measurements that the normal CH of adult human feces falls within the range 9.8 IO-8 to 0.15 IO"8 (pu 7.1 to 8.8). Nelson and Williams,3 using colorimetric methods, found the usual range to be pu 5.38 to 6.66. Ylppö 4 determined the pH of the stools of normal infants ; the stools of breast fed infants showed pK 4.6 to 5.0, and of artificially fed, pK 7.0 to 8.3. Tisdall and Brown G have made

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