416 Influence of Inanition on Metabolism. 



The data given above are of interest because they give some idea of the 

 relation of the chlorine output to the length of the period of inanition. The 

 variations in the amount of chlorine excreted on the first day of the several 

 fasts are large, ranging from the very small excretion in experiment No. 83, 

 namely, 0.517 gram to 8.898 grams in experiment No. 80. The average of all 

 the experiments for the first day is 3.847 grams. These wide variations on the 

 first day indicate clearly that the excretion must be influenced to a very great 

 degree by the quantity of soluble chlorides taken with the food and drink of 

 the preceding day. 



On the second day of the fast the variations are nearly as extreme, ranging 

 from 0.466 gram in experiment No. 73, to 6.714 grams in experiment No. 82. 

 The average for the second day of all the experiments is 2.453 grams. In 

 three of the experiments, Nos. 79, 82, and 83, the excretion of chlorine on the 

 second day was greater than that of the first day. Considering only the 

 experiments with S. A. B., the second day invariably showed a diminished 

 excretion as compared with the first, although there is no regularity in the 

 per cent of decrease. Thus in experiment No. 73, there is a decrease of about 

 1.2 grams in the excretion, in experiment No. 75, 0.11 gram, and in experi- 

 ment No. 77, in which there was an unusually large excretion on the first day, 

 i. e., 5.294 grams, the excretion on the second day fell to 1.671 grams. 



Three experiments in which the chlorine was determined continued for 

 three days or more. The excretion on the third day averaged 0.898 gram. A 

 decrease in the first two experiments was observed, but there was an actual 

 increase in the excretion on the third day of experiment No. 77 over that of 

 the second day. 



The continued high output of chlorine in experiment No. 77 is difficult to 

 understand except on the supposition that this subject must excrete soluble 

 chlorides rather slowly. From the large excretion on the first day of the 

 experiment, it is apparent that the body contained much more chlorine at 

 the beginning of this fast than at the beginning of either of those preceding. 

 The absolute rise on the third day of the experiment is difficult to explain. 

 The abnormalities in the urinary constituents during experiment No. 77 have 

 frequently been pointed out. 



Not until the fourth day of fasting is reached is there anything approxi- 

 mating constancy in the excretion of chlorine for this subject. The variations 

 here are from 0.245 to 0.647 gram, the average excretion being 0.416 gram. 

 On the fifth day of experiment No. 75, the chlorine output was not determined. 

 For experiment No. 73, it amounted to 0.408 gram, a little less than the 

 average for the fourth day. In the one experiment in which the determinations 

 were made for the sixth and seventh fasting days, the chlorine elimination is 

 practically constant. 



