364 Influence of Inanition on Metabolism. 



Woods & Merrill s report the average daily nitrogen excretion in a two- 

 day fast as 11.96 grams. 



Eosemann " found 9.89 grams of nitrogen in the urine on the first day of a 



fast. 



In cooperation with Dr. A. E. Diefendorf the writer has presented * the 

 results of a 6-day fast with an insane woman weighing 50 kilos. The daily 

 nitrogen output was 4.19, 6.05, 6.38, 6.93, 6.16, and 4.41 grams. 



Brugsch and Hirsch f have reported the total nitrogen output of a profes- 

 sional fasting woman weighing 56.3 kilos from the second to the sixteenth day 

 of fasting. The output for the successive days of fasting beginning with the 

 second was 8.41, 6.59, 7.78, 7.86, 7.82, 7.13, 6.20, 5.40, 4.38, 5.17, 5.38, 8.11, 

 5.96, 5.10, and 4.07 grams respectively. 



Dr. Otto Folin $ reports the total nitrogen output on six days with a fasting 

 man weighing 50 kilos as 4.4, 6.5, 7.7, 10.8, 11.0, and 12.2 grams respectively. 



The total nitrogen excretion for each 24 hours of the fasting experiments 

 here reported is given in table 197. For the details of the amounts of nitrogen 

 excreted during the different periods of the day, reference is made to the tables 

 in the statistical data for the experiments and to table 198. 



The results of the nitrogen determinations in the urine of the subjects in the 

 experiments made in this laboratory here reported show that the nitrogen elim- 

 inated on the first day of fasting ranges from 5.84 grams in experiment No. 71 

 to 13.25 grams, in experiment No. 83. The average for the first day for all 

 the experiments is 10.03 grams. The unusually small amount of nitrogen 

 eliminated in experiment No. 71 has been the subject of much investigation. 

 An examination of the statistical tables shows that on that particular day, 

 the nitrogen determinations by periods and in the composite sample agree as 

 well as could possibly be expected. The weight of total solids observed on this 

 day is lower than on any other day of fasting (see column g of table 193), and 

 the weight of organic matter (see table 195) for this day is likewise much lower 

 than on any other day. Hence there seems to be no doubt that there was 

 an unusually low excretion of nitrogenous material in the urine on this day. 



It is also of interest to note in this connection that the largest amount of 

 organic matter on the first day of the fasting experiments, aside from the 

 imperfectly apportioned amount in experiment No. 59, is found on the first day 

 of experiment No. 83, i. e., it corresponds with the largest excretion of nitrogen. 



Considering experiments with the same individual, S. A. B., in experiment 

 No. 71, excreted the lowest amount (5.84 grams), of any of the subjects on the 

 first day, and yet, on the first day of experiment No. 75, he excreted 12.24 

 grams, over twice as much as on the first day of experiment No. 71. 



00 U. S. Dept. of Agr., Office of Expt. Sta. Bui. 85, p. 41 (1900). 



"Archiv f. die ges. Physiol. (1897), 65, p. 360. 



* Amer. Jour. Physiol. (1907), 18, p. 362. 



|Zeit. f. experimented Pathologie u. Therapie (1906), 3, p. 640. 



% Private communication. 



