Eecovery after Inanition. 541 



drafts upon the phosphatic material of the bones noticed in the ratio of nitro- 

 gen to phosphoric acid in the fasting experiments (see table 213) were first 

 made up by the storage of phosphorus during the experiments with food. There 

 is exhibited a tendency for the ratio of nitrogen to phosphoric acid to increase 

 as the experiment with food continues, with one exception, i. e., the fourth 

 period of the first experiment. This is observed in both experiments but in no 

 case does the ratio approximate the ratio of nitrogen to phosphoric acid in 

 flesh. 



The ratio of nitrogen to sulphur resembles much more closely the ratio 

 existing in flesh, although as has been pointed out before, wide variations in 

 the nitrogen-sulphur ratio in the proteids of the body occur. The ratio is low 

 in the first week of each experiment but increases in the second week of the 

 second experiment. 



Variations in nitrogen, sulphur, and phosphorus content of the body. The 

 two nitrogen metabolism experiments here reported, taken in connection with 

 metabolism experiments Nos. 75, 76, and 77, give the data for the variations 

 in the storage of nitrogen in the body of this subject for the period of 53 days. 

 Beginning with experiment No. 75, there was a loss of nitrogen to the body 

 for 7 days, amounting in all to 81.1 grams. On the 3 succeeding days food 

 was ingested, but there was still a loss to the body of 10.1 grams. There was 

 then a recuperative period of 25 days, during which there was gained by the 

 body 136.1 grams of nitrogen. During the 4 clays of the fasting experiment 

 No. 77, the subject lost 42.0 grams of nitrogen and there was then a recupera- 

 tive period of 2 weeks during which time he gained 53.1 grams. From these 

 data and from the detailed figures for the nitrogen gain of each day given in 

 table 256, it can be seen that the loss of 91 grams of nitrogen experienced dur- 

 ing experiments Nos. 75 and 76 was completely made up by March 26, i. e., 

 in 12 days. After this date the body continued to store nitrogen, until at the 

 beginning of experiment No. 77 it contained 45.0 grams more than it did at 

 the beginning of experiment No. 75. There was lost, during experiment No. 

 77, 42.0 grams of nitrogen but the daily gains show that by April 24, i. e., 

 in 12 days, this loss had been made up and the body was still storing nitrogen 

 when the experiment ended. 



The storage of equally large amounts of nitrogen has been frequently 

 observed, especially by recent writers, and it is very much to be regretted that 

 it was impossible to continue similar experiments with food inside the respira- 

 tion calorimeter for a period of 2 weeks and thereby obtain more data regard- 

 ing the specific nature of the material stored. It is obviously impossible from 

 the ratios of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and sulphur stored to draw definite 

 conclusions regarding the nature of the nitrogenous material gained by the 

 body other than that the phosphorus storage probably represents the replenish- 

 ment of skeletal phosphatic material rather than nucleo-proteid. On the other 



