GROWTH AFTER INANITION FOR VARIOUS PERIODS. 23 



refeeding, the body weight of the rats increased from an average 

 of 190.2 grams (range 177.5-202.0), to an average of 227.8 grams 

 (209.0-246.0). The average amount of food eaten during the 

 four days of refeeding was 247.7 grams (195-304), which pro- 

 duced an actual average increase of 37.6 grams (31.5-44.0). 

 Thus on the average 15.1 per cent. (13.4-16.6 per cent.) of the 

 ingested food was applied toward increment of body weight 

 (not taking into account the weight of ingested water and salts) . 

 In this respect my results are markedly different from those ob- 

 tained by Morgulis ('n), who found the increase in body weight 

 of starved salamanders following refeeding might even exceed 

 the weight of the ingested food. The absorption of water, how- 

 ever, is doubtless much greater in the case of the salamanders, 

 which probably accounts for the difference. 



To summarize, the fasting and refeeding experiments yielded 

 the following results: (i) The daily average gain in weight was 

 greater in the test rats on generous feeding following short 

 periods of fasting than in the controls. The test rats were thus 

 able to overtake (but not to exceed) the controls. (2) The aver- 

 age daily loss in weight did not increase on suffering a second 

 period of starvation, causing a loss of 25 per cent, of the initial 

 body weight. (3) The gain in weight following the severe fasts 

 did not exceed 16.6 per cent, of the weight of the ingested food. 

 (4) So far as body weight is concerned, the rats recovered com- 

 pletely on refeeding after having lost 25 per cent, of their initial 

 body weight. 



REFEEDING AFTER VARIOUS PERIODS OF MAINTENANCE. 

 i . Growth in Body Weight. 



The average absolute increase in body weight of the test rats 

 refed after the various periods of maintenance, and of the full-fed 

 controls of litters S8, 89, and 814, is represented by the growth 

 curves in charts A and B. The curves show that the growth 

 of the stunted rats on generous feeding was considerably higher 

 for some time than the normal for the (younger) controls of the 

 same body weight, which enabled the test rats to overtake the 

 controls before the end of the normal growth period. 



