EFFECT OF PARTIAL STARVATION ON BODY-WEIGHT. 



77 



The duration of the period of growth of the undernourished animal 

 depends upon the constitutional vigor of the individual and the store 

 of fat which it has accumulated. Quoting Aron : "Dem Einschmelz- 

 ungsprozess fallt neben dem Fettgewebe in erster Lime die Musku- 

 latur zum Opfer, wahrend die Organe ihm widerstehen, wohl weil 

 sie lebenswichtiger sind." 



The results of realimentation in animals which show this "dis- 

 proportionate" growth, i. c, growth of one part at the expense of 

 another, are not yet satisfactorily ascertained. Waters believes that 

 physiological compensation may result " by an increase in the rate of 

 growth in a period of liberal feeding following a period of low nourish- 

 ment and low gain. In other words, an animal that is below the 

 normal in size at a given age, through poor nourishment, apparently 

 has the capacity, when liberally fed, to compensate for this loss, in a 

 measure at least, by an increased rate of gain." He also suggests the 

 possibility that growth may be accomplished on a more economical 

 basis a view which we are not yet ready to accept. 



EFFECT OF PARTIAL STARVATION ON BODY-WEIGHT. 



Hatai* has studied the effect of partial starvation followed by 

 normal diet on the growth of white rats. The "partial starvation" 

 consisted in feeding a diet that is practically devoid of protein, viz, 

 starch and water, during 21 days to animals about 40 days old. The 

 realimentation was continued to the age of maturity, at the end of 

 200 days. The statistics thus obtained and reproduced in Table 

 XXXVI are presented graphically in Chart XXVI. 



Table XXXVI. Hatai's Measurements of Underfed and Reaumented Rats. 



Hatai concluded that, as far as body-weight is concerned, "the 

 experimented rats have completely recovered from the effect of 21 

 days of partial starvation . . . The recovery in the weight is 

 most astonishing, especially during the first 3 or4 days, within which 

 time the starved rats regain the weight lost during the 21 days of 

 starvation. Later the increase in weight is very steady, though not 

 as rapid as during the first few days, until the rat has reached the age 



*Hatai: American Journal of Physiology, 1907, xvin, p. 310. 



|The body-weight in both control and experimented is small for the age. 



