Feces. 337 



the Middletown experiments. During a large majority of the fasts the 

 only discomfort noticed was a slight headache or dizziness, and a number of the 

 subjects were cheerful and contented. The attempt to read by means of the 

 insufficient light in the chamber may well account for much of the pain in the 

 eyes and perhaps also for the dizziness. The psychical condition of the subject 

 S. A. B., who was distinctly of a hypochondriacal disposition, determined in a 

 very large measure his subjective symptoms. For example, during the longest 

 fast, 7 days in experiment No. 75, he reported himself in excellent condition 

 and his attending physician substantiated his statement. In fact, at the 

 conclusion of the 3-day food experiment following this fast, the subject 

 remarked to the assistants in the laboratory that he could have fasted for 

 three days more. On the contrary, in experiment No. 77, although the subject, 

 had endured the 7-day fast inside the calorimeter with excellent results, he 

 was extremely apprehensive and nervous. 



In the series of 2-day experiments a feeling of weakness and occasionally 

 a sense of hunger were the only disagreeable sensations noted. 



It seems, therefore, that from the experiments made in this laboratory the 

 conclusion can properly be drawn that fasting, per se, produces no marked 

 symptoms of pain or weakness, at least during the first days of inanition. 



FECES. 



The excretion of feces has commonly been considered to be the rejection 

 of undigested food material. From more careful examination of the nature 

 and composition of feces, however, it is seen that undigested food may form 

 but a small portion of the total fecal mass. Among the ingredients of 

 normal feces may be mentioned residues of digestive juices and epithelial 

 tissue. These are conveniently termed the " metabolic products." Since under 

 ordinary conditions these are incident to the passage of food through the 

 body, the practice of considering feces undigested food is not without 

 some justification. For while the metabolic products are not a part of 

 the food passing through the alimentary tract, yet they are present in the 

 feces as a result of the ingestion and digestion of food, and hence they may 

 properly be considered as material expended for the digestion of food and 

 should be taken into account in discussing digestibility or the cost of 

 digestion. 



A number of experimenters have in recent years attempted to study the 

 formation of feces by ligaturing a loop of the intestine, analyzing the contents 

 of the ligature and comparing the composition of this matter with that 

 of normal feces. After the ligature was made and the wound healed the diet 

 was resumed, and under these conditions there was a large amount of material 

 thrown off from the intestinal wall into the ligatured section. This closely 

 resembled fecal matter. It had a chemical composition not unlike that of feces 



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