336 Influence of Inanition on Metabolism. 



extreme discomfort, pain, and sensation of coldness. During the 30-day fast 

 of Jacques (3) the only marked discomfort noticed was a slight attack of 

 gout which appeared on the 16th day. In the numerous fasts of Succi (4) 

 no marked discomfort was observed. In fact during his fast at Florence 

 his cheerfulness and apparent good health were the subject of much comment. 

 It should be stated, however, that both Jacques and Succi took small amounts 

 of narcotics from time to time throughout their fasts, though, as Prausnitz (5) 

 has pointed out, this may have been as much to stimulate a popular interest in 

 the concoctions as to dull the senses to any possible pain, except possibly 

 during the early days of the fast. Cetti (7) experienced considerable dis- 

 comfort during the first one and one-half days of his fast, but this suddenly 

 ceased after a movement of the bowels. The condition during Breithaupt's (7) 

 experiment was somewhat complicated by the fact that on the third day of the 

 experiment he contracted a cold in the head which caused him discomfort 

 with a slight temperature increase. It was the opinion of Senator and Mueller 

 (7) that the disturbances observed in both cases were not marked enough to 

 cause any material effect on the metabolism. The records of the subjective 

 impressions of J. A. (9) in the experiments in the Stockholm laboratory 

 show that on the first day of the fast he noticed no dizziness. On the second 

 day, while his general condition was good, he observed unusual weakness follow- 

 ing a slight muscular exertion. On the third day he was in not a little 

 discomfort and was dizzy when climbing on a short ladder inside the respiration 

 chamber. On the fourth day the pain in the stomach disappeared and no 

 dizziness was noticed in the experiment on the ladder. On the fifth day the 

 general condition was excellent, and there was no pain or discomfort in the 

 stomach. His strength, too, was greater, although he noticed that if he arose 

 suddenly from the bed there appeared to be black spots before the eyes. 



Kosemann, 29 who fasted forty hours, records that on the first day there was 

 no very noticeable feeling of hunger. On the second day he was hungry, 

 especially at the regular meal hours. There was furthermore a feeling of weak- 

 ness and a pain in the heart with palpitation. The effect of climbing a ladder 

 was to cause dizziness. 



In the series of 2-day experiments made by Prausnitz (5) discomfort was 

 experienced in one or two cases, but on the whole the subjects had no pain or 

 other disagreeable results from the fast. There was in general a feeling of 

 weakness on the second day. although all the subjects went about their usual 

 daily occupations. In Prausnitz's opinion the feeling of discomfort attending 

 hunger is, in many instances, a purely psychical condition. 



That the psychical condition has much to do with the feelings of discomfort 

 during fasting is clear from observation of the notes made by the subjects of 



"Archiv f. die ges. Physiologie (1897), 65, p. 359. 



