Feces. 339 



During the 30-day fast reported by Paton and Stockman (3) there was no 

 excretion of feces during the whole period of the fast except on the first day 

 when a few pilular masses were passed. 



In the 10-day fast of Cetti (7) feces were passed only once, i. e., at the 

 end of the seventh fast day when about 175 grams were collected. 



Breithaupt (7), during a 6-day fast, passed 37.5 grams of fresh feces on 

 the first fasting day and 107 grams at the end of the third fasting day. No 

 more feces were collected till after the period of inanition. 



Landergren * does not state that feces were passed during his experi- 

 ment, but notes that it was impossible to separate the fasting feces. 



With the subject J. A. (9) no feces were passed between 7 h 45 m a. m. on 

 the day before the fast and 7 h 40 m a. m. on the second day after it concluded. 



Sohn, the subject of Hoover and Sollman (8), did not defecate during the 

 8 days of an hypnotic sleep. It should be added, however, that suggestion 

 was used to prevent defecation. 



Flora Tosca (11) during her 15-day fast defecated but once, i. e., the evening 

 of the sixth day : after taking a saline purgative. 



Baumstark and Moler f report that no feces were passed by the fasting 

 woman (Schenk) between the second and fourteenth days of fasting. No 

 weights of feces are given. 



Owing to long retention in the colon, fasting feces become hard, much dried 

 and pilular, and frequently cause considerable uneasiness. Much difficulty is 

 experienced in passing them, and at times they may cause considerable pain 

 with slight hemorrhages. The use of an enema to remove fecal matter during 

 inanition is qiiite common. This method was employed throughout the 30-day 

 fast of Sued, reported by Luciani. 



Separation of feces. In studying the feces resulting from different diets, 

 it is common to separate that portion of the feces belonging to one diet 

 from that belonging to another by means of some material which will either 

 color the feces or will mingle with them in such other manner as to 

 enable the separation to be sharply made. For the coloring material carmine, 

 charcoal, and lampblack have most commonly been used, while the other type 

 of separating agent has more commonly been berry and fruit seeds, silica, 

 and other similar insoluble materials. While with subjects undergoing experi- 

 ments in which a sufficient quantity of food is given, these separating 

 agents serve fairly well to distinguish the feces resulting from the differ- 

 ent foods, the difficulties incident to the separation of fasting feces are much 

 greater. 



It may reasonably be questioned whether the presence of berry seeds or 

 indeed even coarsely powdered charcoal may not result in a stimulation to 



* Loc. cit. 



f Zeit. f. experimentelle Pathologie und Therapie (1906), 3, p. 687. 



