PREFACE 



The widespread occurrence of human famine during and since the world 

 war has raised serious questions concerning both the immediate and the remote 

 effects upon the human species. Even in the more fortunately situated coun- 

 tries, recent investigations have revealed, especially among children, a large 

 amount of malnutrition, with possible consequences of great importance to 

 society. 



Inanition in animals and plants is likewise a subject of much interest, and 

 presents a method of the utmost value in the study of the living organism. 

 By withholding or decreasing the normal diet (total inanition) or merely one or 

 more of the essential nutritional elements (partial inanition), we may observe 

 effects which throw much light upon the process of nutrition from the standpoint 

 of normal morphology, of physiology, or of pathology. 



Inanition is therefore a subject of both theoretical and practical importance 

 to scientific workers in various fields — to biologists (both zoologists and botan- 

 ists), who are concerned with the fundamental characters of living organisms; 

 to anatomists, who are interested in the problems of morphogenesis; to physiolo- 

 gists and biochemists, working in the various fields of human and animal 

 nutrition; to pathologists, since inanition is one of the primary factors in patho- 

 genesis; and to physicians, who recognize inanition, not merely as a therapeutic 

 measure of occasional utility, but especially as a complication in most of the 

 disorders with which they have to deal. Inanition and malnutrition have long 

 been considered of importance in connection with the diseases of infancy, but 

 only recently has their significance become more fully apparent likewise for 

 adults, and above all in the so-called "deficiency diseases." The nature of 

 these deficiency disorders as forms of partial inanition, and their relationship 

 to each other and to inanition in general, constitute an outstanding problem 

 in medicine. 



On account of these varied and important relations, a systematic review of 

 the subject of inanition seems desirable, especially from the viewpoint of mor- 

 phology. The present work will therefore include not only the results published 

 by the author and his coworkers during a decade of research in this field, 

 together with a considerable amount of unpublished material, but also a com- 

 prehensive review of the widely scattered data in the literature concerning 

 the morphological effects of inanition in all living organisms. While an ade- 

 quate critique in so vast a field is impossible, it is hoped that even a brief 

 survey of the literature will be of interest and service. Especial care has been 

 taken to make the bibliography as complete and accurate as possible, although 

 errors and omissions are unavoidable. 



