464 W. M. SMALLWOOD. 



in and utilized by the nervous system irrespective of the amount 

 of work to be performed. 1 



SUMMARY. 



1. Amia calva is able to live at least for twenty months in an 

 aquarium tank without food. During this time the body was 

 furnished with food energy that was derived from the body 

 muscles. 



2. The blood does not show any definite chemical variation 

 during this period of fasting nor do the individual red blood 

 corpuscles undergo a definite change. There seems to be a 

 marked reduction in the number of red and white corpuscles. 



3. In the breaking down of the muscle cell, the parts of the 

 cell disappear in the following order: the muscle striae, then the 

 sarcoplasm and finally the nucleus. 



4. The cells of the nervous system continued to function al- 

 though highly vacuolated. There does not appear to be any 

 constant morphological change in the nerve cells that worked 

 and the cells that rested during this long period of fasting. 



5. The bright colors of the reproductive period were assumed 

 by this starved Amia twice while undergoing enforced fasting. 



1 A detailed study of the digestive glands and digestive tract is being made 

 by W. H. Kortright and will be reported at a later date. 



