202 INANITION AND MALNUTRITION 



tion probably due to some toxic substance in the wheat rather than to the 

 absence of any dietary factor, however. 



Scorbutus. — In human scurvy, lesions of the spinal cord appear rare. 

 Sato and Nambu ('08) found nothing abnormal by Marchi's method. Feigen- 

 baum ('17) observed hemorrhages in the spinal cord, however, and Hess ('18a) 

 described focal degeneration in the lumbar cord, involving mainly the anterior 

 horn cells, in a case of infantile scurvy. For experimental scurvy, no data have 

 been found in the literature, excepting those of Bessesen ('23) who found a 

 marked apparent increase in the weight of the spinal cord in scorbutic young 

 guinea pigs (Table 12). This is explained in part by the corresponding loss in 

 body weight. 



Aqueous Inanition. — As to the effects of thirst (dry diet) on the weight of the 

 spinal cord, Falck and Scheffer ('54) found that in a dog with loss of about 21 

 per cent in body weight, the spinal cord apparently lost 7.1 per cent. Kudo 

 ('21, '21a) studied the effects of a dry diet in albino rats (Tables 9 and 10). 

 In adults, the spinal cord in the acute thirst series shows an apparent average 

 loss of 1.8 per cent (body weight loss 36 per cent); while in the chronic thirst 

 series it lost 6.7 per cent (body weight loss 52 per cent). In young albino rats 

 (1 month old) in which the body weight was retarded for various periods by a 

 dry diet the spinal cord shows a marked and progressive increase in weight, rang- 

 ing from 20.8 to 53.1 per cent. This resembles the increase found in young rats 

 during general underfeeding (incomplete total inanition) as previously mentioned. 



The structural changes in the spinal cord produced by dietary deficiency of 

 water were studied by Pernice and Scagliosi ('93, '95, '95a). In a clog, the 

 cord presents capillary congestion. The nerve fibers appear variably atrophic, 

 especially near the gray substance. There is a distinct decrease in the size 

 and number of the nerve cells, especially in the anterior horns. Many cells 

 have entirely disappeared; others have degenerated into an amorphic mass of 

 fatty granules. The stroma is increased in amount and the central canal 

 widened. In 3 chicks, the pia mater appears thickened, rich in nuclei, with a 

 few sub-pial hemorrhages. There is congestion, glial proliferation and atrophy 

 of the nerve fibers and cells (Fig. 66), as in the dog. In general, the cells are 

 small, poorly stained, and often without processes. Irregular, vacuolated or 

 granular masses, or empty cavities, are found replacing degenerated cells, 

 especially in the anterior horn of the lumbar region. The gray substance 

 shows whitish-yellow, granular areas of softening, especially near the central 

 canal, which in the lumbar cord appears enlarged and contains blood, etc. 



In rabbits dehydrated by various methods, Brasch ('98) found variable 

 changes by the Nissl method, especially in the nucleus of the nerve cells of 

 the spinal cord and spinal ganglia. The nuclear changes present two types: 

 (a) nucleus rather small and pycnotic (sometimes karyorrhexis); (b) nucleus 

 large, with stellate masses of variable stainability around the nucleolus. Transi- 

 tional forms also occur. Brasch concludes that the retraction of the nuclear 

 contents from the nuclear membrane is not a necrobiotic, but a purely physical 

 phenomenon, caused by the dehydration and capable of recovery when the 

 normal water supply is restored. 



