234 INANITION AND MALNUTRITION 



(Fig. 35). Findlay ('21) in 43 fowls and 41 pigeons found the heart not greatly 

 atrophied (Table 13), and the right heart (especially the atrium) often dilated. 

 The heart muscle appears pale and soft, with a line of edema frequently visible 

 at the atrioventricular junction. Microscopically the myocardial cells show 

 cloudy swelling and often beginning fragmentation. Hydropericardium oc- 

 curred in 20 to 26 per cent of the birds. Very similar cardiac changes were 

 found in inanition with water only. Hoffman ('22) in polyneuritic pigeons 

 reported the heart "enlarged and flabby," sometimes "jelly-like." Souba and 

 Dutcher ('22) and Souba ('23) noted a significant loss in cardiac weight in 

 several hundred chicks on diets deficient in vitamin B. Lopez-Lomba ('23) 

 found the cardiac weight normal in pigeons on a vitamin-free diet, excepting an 

 early slight transient increase. 



In mammals on diets deficient in vitamin B, the results upon the heart appear 

 less striking. Schnyder ('14) found no changes in the heart muscle of mice, 

 aside from congestion (stasis). Drummond ('18) noted enlargement of the 

 right heart in a few black rats. Voegtlin and Lake ('19) observed slight degen- 

 erative changes in the heart of cats, dogs and rats. Emmett and Allen ('20) 

 noted some atrophy of the cardiac muscle fibers of albino rats. 



Vitamin C. Scorbutus. — The cardiac changes during scurvy have 

 frequently been studied, and the literature is fully reviewed by Hess ('20). In 

 5 necropsies on infantile scurvy, Schodel and Nauwe.rk ('00) discovered a hyper- 

 trophy of the ventricles and dilation of the right heart. This was confirmed in 

 21 out of 31 necropsies by Erdheim ('18), who concluded that a direct ratio 

 exists between the degree of cardiac enlargement and the intensity of the disorder. 

 Cardiac enlargement was sometimes found even coexistent with general maras- 

 mus, and may be due to the thoracic deformity (as in rickets). Hess ('20) 

 described and demonstrated by means of roentgenograms the enlarged heart 

 in infantile scurvy. There is also almost always an increase in pericardial fluid. 



In human adult scurvy, Sato and Nambu ('08) found the heart not especially 

 enlarged, but the cardiac musculature often anemic and brownish, sometimes 

 cloudy, with fibrosis. Aschoff and Koch ('19) described the enlargement of 

 both ventricles, with possible fatty degeneration of the cardiac musculature. 

 Comrie ('20) found the heart feeble, showing brown atrophy. 



In experimental scurvy of guinea pigs, Hoist and Frolich ('07, '12) frequently 

 observed a fatty degeneration of the cardiac muscle. Lesions of the cardiac 

 musculature were also described by Rondoni and Montagnani ('15). Findlay 

 ('21a) found dilation but no hypertrophy of the heart in scorbutic guinea pigs. 

 The cardiac muscle fibers show loss of striation, but no fatty degeneration. The 

 interstitial stroma is edematous in places, with capillary congestion; and definite 

 hemorrhagic infiltration of the heart wall was noted in 5 out of 12 cases. A 

 slight increase in the weight of the heart in scorbutic guinea pigs was found by 

 La Mer and Campbell ('20) and Bessesen ('23) (Table 12). A relative increase 

 is to be expected, on account of the loss in body weight. Hojer ('24) noted 

 atrophy of the cardiac fibers, with necrosis and tendency to calcification. 



Aqueous Inanition. — In pigeons perishing on a dry barley diet, Schuchardt 

 ('47) found a loss of 36 per cent in the average weight of the heart. Bowin ('80) 



