EFFECTS ON THE SPLEEN 



271 



tance. In a large man, who died from voluntary starvation, Voelkel ('86) 

 described the spleen as "auffallend klein (10 cm. lang, 5 cm. breit, noch nicht 

 ganz 2 cm. dick)." Cohnheim ('89) held that during starvation the relative 

 loss in the weight of the spleen is next to that of the adipose tissue. 



Porter ('89) recorded the weight of the spleen among native victims of the 

 Madras famine, as shown in the accompanying table. 



Weight of the Spleen in Victims of the Madras Famine (Porter '89) 



The normal weight of the spleen in native Indians was not known, but Porter 

 concluded that its loss in weight was relatively greater than that in any 

 other organ. 



Marked atrophy of the spleen was likewise noted by Formad and Birney 

 ('91) in two cases of death from starvation. 



Dlinschmann ('00) also held that the spleen is very small in starvation, 

 reduced one-half or more; and Aschoff ('13) stated that the spleen loses in 

 relative as well as absolute weight. Meyer ('17) found the spleen weight only 

 53 g. in a man who died after 60 days on water only. 



The data by Krieger ('20) for the weights of the spleen in emaciated adults 

 (infections excluded) are summarized in the accompanying table. 



1 Making allowance for normal decrease in weight of the spleen after age of so. 



