I9I4] Carl P. Sherwin and Philip B. Hawk 417 



f asting experiments made by us on men ( i ) we have observed that 

 the urine contained indican throughout the course of the fast. Inas- 

 much as the indican has its origin in protein material one would 

 naturally expect to find it (indican) excreted even during prolonged 

 fasting, since protein material in the form of secretions must be 

 continually passed into the intestine. 



Following the period in which the water ingestion of the dog 

 was decreased from 2100 c.c. to 700 c.c. per day, the indican values 

 were higher for several days than they had been during the period 

 of excessive water ingestion. In other experiments a similar de- 

 crease in water ingestion has also produced an increased indican 

 Output (i, 7). 



During the final period of the experiment (64-117 days) the 

 indican Output tended to decrease until the I04th day. At this 

 point a rise occurred, which was maintained for several days. The 

 amount of indican excreted on the final day of the experiment 

 (27.3 mg.) was greater than it had been for 50 days, i. e., after the 

 67th day of the fast. The animal at this time was very weak, and 

 the feces were little more than masses of hair and gave but slight 

 indication of unabsorbed protein material. Perhaps this pro- 

 nounced increase in indican on the i I7th day may be considered as an 

 index of bodily breakdown. According to Maillard (4) an excess- 

 ive excretion of indican usually accompanies a strained physical or 

 mental condition. 



Table 2 embraces the data for the repeated fast of 105 days. 

 The data incorporated there indicate clearly that the indican output 

 was remarkably lowered during the second or "repeated" fast of 

 105 days. 



The differences between the data for the two fasts stand out 

 all the more prominently when it is appreciated that the body weight 

 of the animal was practically the same at the start of each fast and, 

 furthermore, that the diet preparatory to the start of the fasts was 

 similar in the two cases. 



The most noteworthy point regarding the data is the absence of 

 all signs of indican in the urine after the 57th day of the " repeated " 

 fast. The processes of intestinal putrefaction therefore underwent 

 a very remarkable decrease as the result of "repeated fasting." 



