EFFECTS OF INANITION ON THE BODY AS A WHOLE 99 



from loss of solids. Chossat ('43) concluded that death is caused by the fall of 

 temperature. Although accepted by Bourgeois ('70), this cannot be the 

 primary cause, since it is obviously inapplicable to cold-blooded animals; and 

 even in the warm-blooded, death cannot be prevented by artificial maintenance 

 of heat. Lukianov believed that death is due, not to exhaustion of reserves, 

 but to inability of the organs to utilize them; but he failed to explain this 

 inability. Beeli ('08) held that death is due to asphyxia, the accumulation of 

 toxic materials causing paralysis of the respiratory center in the medulla. 

 Lipschiitz ('18) concluded that death from inanition is produced by auto-intoxi- 

 cation, due to toxins resulting from disordered metabolism of the malnourished 

 tissues. 



Whether it be a direct effect of the inanition, or indirectly caused by toxins 

 in circulation, a lowered resistance to infection is a well-known result of various 

 types of inanition, both total and partial. Thus the immediate cause of death 

 following inanition is frequently an infectious complication, such as terminal 

 bronchopneumonia in the human species. The effects of inanition upon the 

 ductless glands may also form an important complication as will be mentioned 

 later under the various organs. It is therefore evident that the immediate cause 

 of death from inanition may vary according to circumstances. 



On the other hand, since most diseases, especially the chronic disorders, 

 interfere more or less with the process of nutrition, inanition is usually present 

 as a complication. As expressed by Chossat: "L'inanition, on peut done le 

 dire, est la cause de mort qui marche de front et en silence avec toute maladie, 

 dans laquelle l'aliment n'est pas a l'etat normal. Elle arrive a son terme naturel, 

 quelquefois plus tot, quelquefois plus tard que la maladie qu'elle accompagne 

 sourdement et peut devenir ainsi maladie principale la ou elle n'avait ete 

 qu'epiphenomene." 



The general effects of partial inanition upon the body as a whole will now be 

 summarized briefly, following which the various individual types of partial 

 inanition will be considered. 



Summary of Effects of Partial Inanition on the Body as a Whole 



Various essential proteins (amino-acids), salts (of P, Ca, Na, Fe, I), vitamins 

 (A, B, C and probably others) and water cannot be synthesized in the vertebrate 

 organism and must therefore be present in the food-intake. If they are absent 

 from the food-intake, or inadequate in amount, decline in body weight with 

 various other characteristic symptoms of malnutrition supervene, as soon as 

 the available supply of reserves of these substances stored within the body is 

 exhausted. The period required for such depletion varies according to the 

 substance in question, the species, age and previous nutritive condition of 

 the individual, as also according to various environmental factors influencing 

 the process of metabolism whereby the essential substances are consumed. 



Each of the essential food factors has its special function in nutrition, and 

 the deficiency in each case results in the characteristic symptoms of the corre- 

 sponding "deficiency diseases." Thus malnutritional edema and pellagra are 



