EFFECTS OF INANITION ON THE BODY AS A WHOLE 



71 



In the human adult, no accurate data are available as to loss of weight during 

 total inanition. On water alone, a loss of about 40 per cent may occur before 

 death, according to Bright ('77), Duflocq (cf. Fernet '01) and Meyer ('17). 

 In about 400 autopsies on victims of the Madras famine of 1877-8, Porter ('89) 

 estimated that about 86 per cent of the men and 83 per cent of the women had 

 lost one-third or more in body weight, emaciation being the most outstanding 

 symptom. 



The loss in body weight in many of Porter's cases was partially masked by 

 dropsy or "hunger edema," a condition which has been noted frequently by 



Fig. 31. — Chart showing curves of body weight in dogs on (complete) total inanition 

 The curves showing the percentage of loss of the initial weight demonstrate that the loss 

 becomes progressively slower with age. The descending curve shows the loss in absolute 

 body weight by the adult dog IV. (Falck '75.) 



other observers in cases of chronic malnutrition and especially during famine or 

 allied conditions. Edema under such conditions has been noted by Abel ('23), 

 Aron ('20), Bigland ('20), Beyermann ('19), Burger ('19, '20), Croftan ('17), 

 Digby ('76), Enright ('20), Fliigge ('22), Gaspard (1821), Hecker ('44), Kraus 

 ('19), Landa ('17), Lange ('17), Leys ('14), Lubarsch ('21), Maase and Zondek 

 ('17, '20), Mann, Helm and Brown ('20), Matthias ('19), Maver ('20), McLeod 

 ('81), Menzies ('20), Oberndorfer ('18, '19), Paltauf ('17), Park ('18), Prince 

 ('21), Prinzing ('16), Rossle ('19), Schiff ('17), Schittenhelm and Schlecht ('18), 

 Strauss ('15), Tallquist ('22), Vacker ('71), Vandervelde and Cantineau ('19), 

 Wells ('18) and Nicolaeff ('23). While many of the authors ascribe "famine 

 edema" and allied conditions to a general total (incomplete) inanition, others 



