I9I2] Paul E. Howe 99 



Aron (i), in his studies upon nutrition and growth, subjected 

 dogs to incomplete fasts. The results showed that a growing 

 animal, receiving only enough food to provide for little or no in- 

 crease in weight, " is in a condition of severe starvation." Under 

 such conditions the skeleton grows at the expense of the flesh, the 

 Organs retain their weight and the brain reaches its normal size. 

 The fat and protein of the muscles are largely used up, altho this 

 loss of material is balanced by gain of water and by the growth of 

 the skeleton. 



The biologists have made use of the fasting subject in the study 

 of the Problems of degeneration, of regeneration, and of growth, 

 The work of Morgulis and of Hottes already considered was of this 

 nature. 



The therapeutic value of fasting is realized in the preliminary 

 treatment of some digestive disorders and in the partial fasts of 

 obesity eures. These latter eures consist in supplying only the 

 protein requirements of the body and thus forcing the individual to 

 utilize the surplus fat deposits to make good the energy require- 

 ments. 



The increasing populär literature upon fasting and the tendency 

 to fast on the part of certain people, especially the pronounced 

 physical culturists, and their general good health, would seem to 

 indicate that there are some beneficial results to be obtained from 

 fasting. The various books upon fasting, of which the superficial, 

 yet interesting book of some six hundred pages by Carrington (6) 

 upon " Vitality, Fasting and Nutrition " is the most complete, lend 

 strength to the idea that fasting as a therapeutic measure is impor- 

 tant. The chief contention of this fasting cult is that by depriving 

 the body of food the digestive organs are given a chance to recu- 

 perate and the body is enabled to rid itself more effectively of the 

 waste products and toxic substances. 



Fasting for short and widely-separated periods may be a bene- 

 ficial procedure in some individuals. This conclusion is supported 

 by the observed effects on dogs, which acquire increased resistance 

 from repeated fasting. This view is strengthened, also, by the 

 foregoing data pertaining to pigs as well as by Seeland's (24) 

 results on pigeons and chickens, which show that repeated fasts. 



