igi2] Paul E. Howe 97 



nuclei and further that the nuclei become elongated. In the case of 

 the liver, the cell walls finally begin to disappear and the small 

 masses of pigment to clump together. Such a condition does not 

 necessarily result in death, for Salamanders of the same size have 

 been caused to fast for even a longer time than those whose tissues 

 demonstrated these changes ; and, af ter feeding, it was f ound that 

 the cell walls again appeared and the liver returned to a normal 

 condition. 



We will not take up the question of the localization of the 

 degenerative changes, i. e., as to whether they occur in an organ as 

 a whole or in localized portions. It is an interesting fact, however, 

 that even when the organism is undergoing the degenerative effects 

 of a fast, there are still evidences of mitotic division of the nuclei. 



What changes take place which enable one organ to waste away 

 while another retains its normal condition? The explanation most 

 generally accepted is that of the nourishment of the more vital 

 Organs by transference of the nutritive material from the less im- 

 portant tissues. Thus the less resistant tissues gradually give up 

 their stores of fat and protein to the blood stream which in turn 

 furnishes them to the actively functioning organs. 



This idea has received further proof from the researches of 

 Hottes.^ This botanist (9) worked with beans and has shown that 

 upon removing the cotyledons, and thus the food supply, from seed- 

 lings, the meristematic tissue which would normally go to produce 

 lateral roots is transferred to the tip of the root (meristem) and 

 there used for growth ; and that at the end of from three to f our 

 weeks all the cells in the Upper part of the root have lost the major 

 portion of their protoplasm and the only actively functioning cells 

 are those at the tip. Hottes has also shown that the decrease in 

 size of the root is due rather to a reduction in the number of the 

 cells than to a mere decrease in size. This is in Opposition to the 

 findings of certain zoölogists who hold that the reduction in the 

 weight and volume of the organs is due more to reduction in size 

 than in number, altho they admit a small decrease in the number of 

 contained cells. 



'I am indebted to Professor Hottes of the University of Illinois for this 

 Information which was taken from some of his unpublished work. 



