212 INANITION AND MALNUTRITION 



2,381 g.) and of 7.90 g. in a well-nourished infant of the same age; but no con- 

 clusion can be drawn, since the previous body weight of the emaciated infant is 

 unknown. The weights of the eyeballs observed by me in atrophic infants 

 (Table 3) are always above the normal weight at birth (3.2 g.), even in 

 those infants which have never reached a body weight of 3,200 g. This would 

 indicate a persistent growth of the eyeballs in atrophic infants, corresponding 

 to that which will be shown later for underfed young animals. 



The regenerative process in corneal lesions of an atrophic infant was studied 

 by Sachsalber ('03). He noted that the non-vascularity of the cornea is 

 unfavorable to vitality, so that keratomalacia and xerosis conjunctivae often 

 precede loss of body weight as signs of general infantile malnutrition. 



Schindler ('19), by a comparison of 288 healthy infants of the first year with 

 172 malnourished infants, demonstrated a marked increase in the pigmentation 

 of the iris in the latter group. Schindler thinks this increased pigment may be 

 hematogenous in origin due to increased destruction of blood in the atrophic 

 infants. 



The changes in the visual apparatus during total inanition in the lower 

 animals include (1) weight changes, in young and adult; and (2) structural 

 changes. As to changes in weight in young animals, Manassein ('69) observed 

 an apparent average increase of 12 per cent in the weight of the eyeballs during 

 inanition in 3 young rabbits (23-25 days) and of 24 per cent in 8 somewhat 

 older (3 months, 20 days) . The corresponding decrease in body weight was about 

 30-35 per cent. Jackson ('15a) found that in albino rats held at constant 

 body weight by underfeeding from 3 to 10 weeks of age, the eyeballs increase 

 about 50 per cent in weight, showing under these conditions an intensity of 

 growth greater than that in any other organ of the body (Table 4). A similar 

 tendency was found also in somewhat older rats, and in those underfed for longer 

 periods. Stewart ('18, '19) noted that if the underfeeding was begun at still 

 earlier periods, the relative intensity of growth in the eyeballs appears even 

 greater; a maximum increase of 143 per cent occurring in rats held at birth 

 weight by underfeeding for an average of 16 days. In the newborn offspring 

 retarded in growth by maternal underfeeding, however, Barry ('20, '21) found an 

 increaseof only 31 per cent above normal in weight of the eyeballs. 



In young albino rats amply refed after underfeeding from 3 to 12 weeks of 

 age, Stewart ('16) found that the relatively heavy eyeballs apparently return 

 to normal proportions within four weeks of refeeding. In rats underfed from 

 birth to 3, 6 or 10 weeks and then amply refed to a body weight of 25-75 g-> 

 Jackson and Stewart ('19) observed that the eyeballs still tend to be slightly 

 above normal in weight (Table 7). In rats permanently stunted in body weight 

 by underfeeding from 3 to 20 weeks of age, and then refed to maximum size 

 attainable, Jackson and Stewart ('20) found the eyeballs averaging 10.7 per cent 

 subnormal in weight; while in those which had previously been underfed for 

 nearly a year before refeeding, the eyeballs average 18 per cent overweight 

 (Table 8). Apparently there is much irregularity in the recovery of normal 

 proportionate size in the eyeballs after periods of underfeeding in young albino 

 rats. 



