Water. 471 



should also be added that the results on the fifth day of experiment No. 73 

 indicate the gradual approach of the loss of water to that of the water in the 

 flesh. The results of the fifth day of experiment No. 75 show a loss of pre- 

 formed water less than that of preformed water in the flesh katabolized, so 

 that the extremely close figures of the sixth and seventh days of the experiment 

 may have been a coincidence. Nevertheless, the general trend of the experi- 

 ments is to indicate an approaching equilibrium toward the end of a prolonged 

 fast. It was thus seen that the excess of water in the body was practically all 

 eliminated by about the fifth day of fasting, and that, thereafter, the loss of 

 water was determined in large measure by the flesh katabolized. 



It would be interesting to compute the water balance of experiments in which 

 the period of inanition was much longer than any of these here reported. 

 Unfortunately the exact data for such comparison are lacking. 



As a result of these observations, and specifically the results obtained in 

 experiment No. 75, it may be contended that the preformed water in the body 

 exists in two forms, first, that which has a more or less fixed relation to the 

 quantity of protein, and, second, a residuum of water retained in a manner not 

 as yet clear. However definite the apparent proportion of protein and water 

 in flesh during normal nutrition, Lichtenf elt 158 has shown that, at least with 

 fish, during inanition there is a relatively increased amount of water in the 

 flesh, and consequently the proportions of protein and water in flesh are by 

 no means as fixed as the factors commonly used would imply. These experi- 

 ments with fasting men imply that in addition to the water held as water of 

 flesh, there is a very considerable residuum of water in the body. This resid- 

 uum may be drawn upon during the early days of inanition. The ingestion of 

 large amounts of water does not prevent its loss, although in numerous instances 

 during a long period of inanition, when the amount of drinking-water was 

 greatly increased, there was a marked retention of water by the body. 



Several experiments point toward this view. For example, on the tenth and 

 thirteenth days of Succi's fast in Naples, there were large quantities of water 

 consumed with a very small elimination of urine. 159 It is reasonable to sup- 

 pose that the muscular activity on these days was not greatly in excess of that 

 on the preceding days, and he must have stored considerable amounts of water 

 in the body. This observation has likewise been noted in a number of 

 instances in experiments immediately following a fast. 



It is unfortunate that the exact data have been recorded in no instances and 

 the comparison is at best unsatisfactory. If water is stored in the body during 



158 Loc. cit. 



159 In striking contrast to these results is the observation of Brugsch (12) that, 

 while the drinking-water and urine excretion of Succi during the Hamburg fast 

 had been constant at 750 cc. and 600 cc, respectively, on the thirteenth day the 

 water of drink was increased to over 1000 cc. and simultaneously the urine 

 increased by about a corresponding amount. 



