104 THE ACTION OF THE LIVING CELL 



cells. That the body proteins are actually utilized 

 during starvation is shown by the fact that a more or 

 less constant excretion of nitrogen takes place during 

 the period of starvation. Such being the case, it seems 

 likely that during inanition the essential amino acids 

 are liberated by autolysis of the tissue cells. This hy- 

 pothesis is substantiated by the observations of Casa- 

 Bianchi (1912), vs^ho found the histological changes 

 incident to starvation to be similar to those observed 

 during the autolysis of tissues. As we have seen, tissue 

 autolysis liberates the toxic substance, cytost; hence 

 we should expect to find some evidences of the latter's 

 action in starving animals. In agreement with this 

 conclusion, Asada (1919) found the capillaries of the 

 lungs and other organs of fasting rabbits to be in- 

 tensely congested — a typical "cytost reaction." 



When animals are caused to suffer partial inanition 

 (malnutrition), the changes have frequently been 

 found to be more extensive than during total starva- 

 tion. The reason for this is not clear, although au- 

 tolysis made necessary by the deficient diet is seem- 

 ingly an important factor. Some years ago the writer 

 (1907) observed degenerative changes in all the or- 

 gans of rats which had been kept for a month upon 

 a diet of meat extractives, although control animals 

 fed meat or extract-free meat for the same period 

 showed no harmful effects. When dogs were fed in 

 similar fashion with beef extract containing B. coli 

 for from four to six months, the animals died from 

 perforated ulcers of the stomach, or hemorrhage. At 

 the time these experiments were performed the au- 

 thor's interest was directed towards other ends than 

 those now under discussion; hence cultures of the 



