EFFECTS OF INANITION ON THE BODY AS A WHOLE 



95 



unusually favorable for growth on refeeding. Robertson ('23) and others have 

 thought that inanition may facilitate subsequent growth by the removal of 

 accumulated inhibitory products. 



Ultimate Effects. — As to the question of the ultimate effects of the inanition 

 and the possibility of a permanent stunting in the later growth of the body, the 

 results of animal experiments appear somewhat conflicting. Thus Hatai 

 ('07) and Stewart ('16) and Jackson and Stewart ('18, '20) obtained complete 



11 41 62. 62 [01 ill [41 162. 162 



1 I — I — I — r I 1 T 

 Day.5 of refeeding 



£0 40 60 60 100 1C0 140 160 160 COO 220 240 260 280 300 3Z0 340 



Fig. 41. — Chart showing curves of growth in albino rats amply refed after underfeeding 

 from 3 to 20 weeks of age. (Jackson and Stewart '20.) L indicates the birth of a litter in the 

 control female. 



recovery upon refeeding young albino rats which had been underfed for various 

 periods beginning at three or four weeks of age. Aron ('14) noted no permanent 

 stunting of rats underfed less than 150 days. Similar results were obtained by 

 Osborne and Mendel ('14a, '15a), who found no suppression of growth capacity 

 in young rats whose growth had been retarded for long periods by various inade- 

 quate diets (to be mentioned later). On the other hand, Aron ('io, 'n, '14) and 

 B riming ('14) found that severe underfeeding of young dogs and rats apparently 

 prevents them from reaching normal adult size upon later full feeding. Jackson 



