362 



Influence of Inanition on Metabolism. 



Total Nitrogen. 

 In many of the earlier experiments on fasting made before the development 

 of the Kjeldahl method, urea, the chief nitrogenous product of the urine, 

 was determined either by the Liebig method, or by the action of sodium 

 hypobromite, and the results thus obtained were considered as the measure of 

 the total nitrogen elimination, although it is now recognized that other nitro- 

 genous ingredients which are not precipitated by mercury salts or decomposed 

 by sodium hypobromite are present in all urines. Indeed even in the long 

 experiment with Succi at Florence, the method for determining nitrogen was 

 distinctly open to objection, as has been pointed out by Munk (7). 



Table 196. Amounts of nitrogen eliminated in urine daily by fasting subjects. 



Day 



of 

 fast. 



Succi. 



At 

 Flor- 

 ence. 

 63.3K. 



At 

 Na- 

 ples. 

 63.6K 



At 

 Vien- 

 na. 



J. A. 



67. 8K. 



Cetti. 



17. OK 



Breit- 

 haupt. 



60.1K. 



Lan- 

 der- 

 gren. 



78.6K 



J. 1 Sohn. 



80. 2K. 58. 6K. 



Sub- 

 ject 



Sub- 

 ject 

 II. 2 



Flora 



Tos-i 



ca. 



Kel- 

 ler. 3 



74. 7K. 



Last 

 food 

 day. 



1.. 



2.. 



d . . 



4. . 

 5.. 



6.. 

 7.. 

 8.. 

 9.. 

 10.. 



Gms. 



*17.85 



15.19 



12.13 



15.25 



14.08 



14.12 



11.18 



10.31 



9.37 



8.56 



7.43 



Gms. 



^8.99 

 8.72 

 8.45 

 9.05 

 8.51 

 9.87 



62 

 62 



s-t 



6.90 

 5.37 



Gms. Gms 

 22 .41 

 17.00 12.04 

 11.2 j 12.72 

 10.55 13.48 

 10.8 13.56 

 ll.19lll.34 

 11.01 



8.79 



9.74 

 10.05 



7.12 



Gms. 

 13.49 

 13.55 

 12.59 

 13.12 

 12.39 

 10.70 

 10.10 

 10.89 



8.90 

 10.83 



9.47 



Gms. 

 13.02 



10.01 



9.92 

 13.29:15.13 

 12.78:13.87 

 10.95J 



9.88 



Gms. \ Gms. 



19.71 



13.60ll2.44 



13.43) 5.67 



9.71 



9.47 



Gms. 

 20. 9S 

 12.37 

 12.37 

 14.01 



.6 27.99 



10.79; 

 14.50J 

 21.58 





Gms. 



7.15 



8 

 10 

 11 



Gms. 



9.48 

 11.36 

 14.33 



Gms. 



13.99 

 8.76 1 

 8.38 



10.73 

 9.40 

 7.87 

 7.73 

 6.11 

 7.70j 

 7.35: 

 6.80 



Gms. 



8.21 



6.75 



7.91 



11.48 



1 Reported by A. Sadovyen (2). 



2 Reported by Schreiber & Waldvogel. 



3 Reported by A. Keller, Zeit. f . physiol. 

 Chemie (1900), 29, p. 165. 



4 The figures in this column are given as 

 corrected by Munk (7), p. 118. 



5 Given by Ajello and Solaro (6) as urea 

 and here converted to nitrogen for purposes 

 of comparison. Since the authors do not 

 give the method employed, no attempt is 

 here made to correct the figures. 



Amount for 2 days. 



The urea determinations in these earlier experiments are therefore of little 

 value for comparison with results obtained by the Kjeldahl method, but they 

 do serve to show the approximate relative amount of urea on the different days 

 of the same experiment. 



Munk (7) has collected the references to the older literature of the excretion 

 of nitrogen (usually expressed as urea) in the fasting insane, cases of 

 oesophagus stricture, etc. 



The subjects were in nearly all cases of small body-weight and the nitrogen 

 output was frequently as low as four grams. 



These figures are of value in indicating the possibilities of a minimum proteid 

 katabolism, but the results of the determination of the nitrogen output of 



